


Freaks Like Us

by chaotic_goodish



Category: Pentatonix, Superfruit
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, F/M, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-08-14 16:25:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8020834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaotic_goodish/pseuds/chaotic_goodish
Summary: Avi and Kevin were just two normal young men, until one day they weren't. Empowered by new and strange abilities there is only one place for them. Welcome to the world of the freak show. Number one tip for survival: Don't mess with Mitch.





	1. Prologue

Even as a young boy the feeling of being scared used to thrill Avi like no other. By the age of eight he had already worked his way through many of the horror movies his foster parents would keep in the - what they thought were secret parts - of the house.

It was always something to look forward to when he was shoved from one family to another. What new terrors will there be for me to discover?

The scarier the movie the better because they were one of the only things that could distract him from the real horrors in his actual life. He had been in care since he was two after his parents died in a car crash.

The crash had been so terrible that the bodies were said to be unrecognisable. That might seem like an awful event for a young boy to go through but truthfully, Avi didn't really care. Yes they were his parents but he'd never really got to know them. He couldn't miss or feel sorry for strangers.

By the age of sixteen Avi had been in approximately fourteen different foster homes, one for each year. Sometimes he was kicked out for fighting, sometimes he ran away so many times the family gave up on him and sometimes he was removed after the foster carers were caught beating him.

That was his horror story. That was why he fed off the fictional nightmares only films could provide. The weirder the better also. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts were okay but what Avi really revelled in were the monsters.

Strange creatures that couldn't be described in a single word other than freaky. Like Stripe in Gremlins, or Pumpkinhead, or The Thing, that parasitic alien, even The Fly was better than your average vampire.

But not even scary movies could satisfy Avi's longing to be frightened. So he would go out looking for trouble, sneaking into abandoned buildings, or walking through the most dangerous back alley ways at night. People often told him they were surprised he'd lived this long with the amount of dumb stunts he pulled.

One more thing. What Avi also preferred about the movies to his real life, was that in the end the hero usually won. They would be scared out of their wits but would eventually defeat the monster.

Real life wasn't like that. Real life was cruel. It didn't care who was the hero and who was the villain. In real life, bad things happen and no one can do anything to stop it. Like parents being decapitated and burned to a crisp in a car crash. Like a drunk man beating a boy half the size of him for spilling milk on the table. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.

That is just one thing to make clear before the story begins.

Anyway, that's enough of an introduction. If this were a work of fiction the story would most likely begin on a dark and stormy night in a big old house. But this is real life and this is the truth.

It started on a subway.


	2. Dares

Avi was stood on the subway, at the intersection between the two carriages where the floor was the most wobbly, throwing bits of an old packet of gum wrapper at his best friend, Kevin. He and Kevin had been friends ever since they had ended up in the same group foster home. Despite being older and a lot taller than Avi, Kevin was kind of a push over and was a target for the bullies at the home.

It had been one incident with the meanest of the bullies, a brawny, ginger kid called Jeff James, that the two had struck up a friendship. Jeff had been in the middle of force feeding Kevin a worm in the back yard and Avi, although not really known for protecting the weaker kids, finally had enough of it and had whacked Jeff around the head with an old drainpipe. That had earned him a criminal record at the tender age of nine.

Ever since though, he and Kevin had remained the tightest of friends, even when they had both moved to different foster homes, and the two now had the same job at the local car manufacturers. People were often surprised that the two even liked each other due to the fact they were so different.

The older boy turned in frustration as Avi's latest missile hit it's mark in the boy's ear.

"Stop that already would you?" he sighed. Avi just grinned cheekily at him and Kevin turned away rolling his eyes and focused back on the latest book he had been reading. Avi could barely remember the last time he had picked up a book let alone read one but that was the least obvious of the difference between the two.

Avi was something of what people liked to call a "wild child". He raised hell wherever he went, got into fights and stole from stores. Since he was a toddler first being put into care he had always found a way to get into mischief.

He was pretty much feared and despised at everywhere foster home he ended up at. But not by Kevin. Never by Kevin. Kevin's friends - he actually got on with other people unlike Avi - always told him he was attracted to the boy's wildness, but Kevin just always insisted Avi was a great guy to hang around with.

As he had matured, and learned to better control his anger, Avi's reputation had softened over the years but he was still a minor legend in their local neighbourhood and not someone you messed with, even if you were bigger and older than him.

Kevin on the other hand had been a polite and shy child, ending up in foster care when his mother, who had been a prostitute, had given him up to authorities, hoping he would have a better chance away from her.

Now as a strapping twenty year old, Kevin was no longer that scared young boy who cowered from the bullies, but his reputation for niceness had never decreased. He was also incredibly intelligent and Avi often wondered why he stuck around at the car factory with him when he clearly belonged at Harvard or Yale.

"Hey," Avi poked Kevin in the back. "This is the stop."

The nineteen year old shoved past the other commuters so he could be the first out the train doors and Kevin followed him, apologising to the disgruntled passengers.

"This is gonna be the last time I come with you on your crazy outings," Kevin muttered in Avi's ear as the two stepped from the crowded train and onto the platform.

"No it isn't," Avi said confidently.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Cos admit it," Avi replied, putting an arm around Kevin's shoulders. "You enjoy the thrill just as much as I do."

"Or maybe I come just to make sure your dumb ass doesn't plummet to the ground."

Avi just laughed the comment off and the two exited the subway and hopped on the next bus to Campion Springs. They had been making this same journey every few months for the past three years.

The younger boy had just been surfing the web one day for his next thrill seeking activity and had stumbled upon the Campion Springs Ridgeway. The pictures showed a guy walking along a teeny tiny ledge on a cliff face about three hundred and thirty feet above ground level. The ledge had apparently been closed to the public after there were too many complaints that it was unsafe even with the mandatory harnesses.

Obviously, Avi wanted to try it out straight away and had dragged Kevin along with him.

The first time they had gone, the ledge hadn't long been closed to public access and there were still hooks in the cliff face for the boys to grab on to. Even so, they hadn't got very far before Kevin began panicking and demanded they turn back.

Now though, they were both seasoned veterans of the path and Avi often sought the thrill he desperately craved by scampering along the ledge hands free. Kevin was still the more cautious of the two but couldn't deny there was something about being that high off the ground with absolutely no safety precautions that gave him an adrenaline rush like no other.

Today the sun was the hottest it had been all summer and the two boys were sweating profusely by the time they had made the initial trek up the steep track that too them to the start of the ledge.

As always, Avi went first, dancing along the narrow path like he was some kind of tight-rope walker, keeping one hand above his eyes so he could admire the view. Kevin followed, keeping one hand firmly against the cliff face at all times, focusing more on where he was placing his feet than looking at the view.

"C'mon Kevin!" Avi called back to him. "I want to try and go even further today."

That was always the dare. Try and go just that little bit farther than they had the previous time. Today that happened to mean manoeuvring around a piece of rock that was jutting out from the side of the cliff like a horn of stone. Neither of them were sure how stable this piece of rock actually was, but they were soon going to find out.

They made quick time despite the heat and soon enough both boys were filed up, one behind the other, at what Avi had aptly named "Death Rock".

"That sounds like some horrible music genre I haven't discovered yet," Kevin quipped, trying to keep his own mood high as Avi bent down next to the rock.

"Shh!" Avi hushed him and bent his head to the spot where the rock and cliff met. He needed to check how stable this lump of stone really was. The boy may have been a thrill seeker but his ultimate goal was to not end up dead on the ground, not matter what others may have thought.

"While you're down there retie my laces, won't you?"

"Shut up!" Avi hissed again and tilted his ear even closer to the rock.

Shutting his eyes tight to try and help in block out any over sounds, he concentrated. Sure enough, after a while, a faint groan could be heard; like an old rocking chair, or an elderly arthritic person trying to stand up from a low seat.

It was coming from deep within the cliff. That was good. It meant this rock was firmly buried and wouldn't be coming loose any time soon. Should be safe enough to climb around. Should be...

"Let's go Kevo," Avi declared and immediately latched onto the rock and began climbing around.

"Yeah...this is fine, this is all good..." the younger boy could hear Kevin trying to reassure himself as he too started the stupidly dangerous climb.

There was no room for error here. One wrong move, one slip of the foot, one misjudged hand hold and there was no tiny ledge for them to land on. Next stop: morgue.

As Avi reached the furriest point of the rock, and also the thinest, he suddenly felt a strange sensation spread across his body, like something had just passed straight through him. He shivered before regaining his composure. Now was no time to be getting the jitters.

He was nearly round the pointy tip of the rock; it was the home stretch from here on out. Of course there was always the trip back which was inevitable unless they fancied camping on the cliff for the night.

A flash of brown caught his eye and Avi turned startled to see a golden eagle standing on the other ledge, it's beady eyes watching him climb with fascination. Avi was about to call out to Kevin to tell him of their visitor when there was a loud growl that emitted from the depths of the cliff and the whole rock they were clinging to shuddered.

"You said this wouldn't move!" Kevin accused him.

"It wouldn't!"

"Well it is! Get a move on you idiot," the older boy yelled as the noise got louder and the rock movement became more erratic.

Avi hurried to clamber around the last bit of rock when he saw something that made his blood run cold. The ledge where the golden eagle had originally been standing, spying on him, was now home to a different figure. One which had no right of being there at all.

A boy.

A tall blond boy was standing there on the ledge just watching him. Avi immediately opened his mouth to yell at Kevin to try and turn around but before he could utter a sound, the sky above them turned dark with clouds and the wind picked up intensely around them.

"Is this a twister?" Kevin shouted, but Avi had turned his fixation back to the blond boy.

Three things he noticed. One: his eyes. His eyes were blank orbs, the same eyes like people who were blind had. Except his eyes weren't the dull, colourless grey. They were lilac. And they were looking straight at him.

Two: he was dressed strangely. A plain white t-shirt, denim shorts and no shoes or socks. Certainly not cliff climbing attire.

And three: the bastard certainly wasn't going out of his way to help the two struggling boys. In fact he looked mighty calm about the whole situation.

Avi felt a torrent of insults build up inside him and was about to scream blue murder at the boy when Kevin bumped up behind him.

"What the hell are you doing?" the older boy cried.

"Look!" Avi replied, almost screaming the wind was so loud now, and gesturing to the the ledge.

"It's just a dumb bird Avi!"

"What? There's a-"

A bird. Just that same golden eagle who had been perched there earlier. Avi shivered again as that same feeling of something passing through him occurred and suddenly felt the urge to look up to the darkened sky.

"Oh wow," his whispered words were lost to the wind.

"Move!" Kevin began shoving him as much as he dared, absolutely terrified that they were about to fall to their deaths.

"Kevin."

"What?"

"The moon." Avi's voice sounded like he was in a trance.

"What the fuck are you on about?"

"A lunar moon."

Kevin eventually looked up and saw to his horror there was indeed a lunar moon. A blood red orb in the thunderous sky. But what the hell was the moon doing out at two o'clock in the afternoon. Even in his state of terror Kevin's analytic mind automatically started trying to work out why a lunar moon of all things had just appeared out of nowhere.

And then it began to rain. Not just a light drizzle but the type of rain which got harder and faster until it was a full blown storm all in a matter of seconds. Kevin had no idea what was going on but knew one thing. They had to get of this rock.

"Avi, if you don't move right now I am seriously going to push you off!" He wasn't being serious of course, but he was trying anything right then to get the younger boy out of his trance.

Avi turned to him and blinked, slowly coming back to the real world. He would've leapt of that rock right that instant if it hadn't been for the voice that suddenly appeared in his head.

" _Better hold on tight,_ " it cautioned and somehow Avi knew it was the voice that belonged to the boy - or possibly eagle - from before.

Then there was a thunderous boom so loud both boys were afraid their eardrums might never stop ringing. Then there was a flash of brilliant white light, that cascaded towards them and struck the very rock they clung to; blasting chipped stone in all directions and temporarily blinding the two. 

And then that same voice came back to Avi, speaking almost as though he were smiling.

" _Get ready. This is where things get interesting._ " 

Then a second crash of lunar light struck the rock and Avi felt himself slipping. He was pretty sure he could hear Kevin screaming beside him but it was so loud he couldn't be sure.

And then...there was only darkness.


	3. Frights

Avi awoke slowly and instantly wished he weren't awake at all. His vision blurred and swam as he struggled to take in his new surroundings. From his current lying down position he could make out a red, tent-like ceiling and hanging up there, dim fairy lights.

He sat up, too quickly, as his vision blurred once more. Ugh, he'd had more pleasant hangovers than this. Looking around the room once more from his now seated position he was able to take in a lot more. And he was taken aback.

The room he had awoken to was something out of a strange collectors museum. In every corner there was some strange looking statue, on every tented wall there was a hanging ornament or painting. The floor wasn't spared either, every inch was space was littered with documents, random mechanical parts and multiple rugs played out on top of each other. Avi wondered if he'd fallen off the cliff and into a episode of Hoarders.

Oh yeah, that was right. He'd fallen of a fucking cliff. Or had he? He'd blacked out hanging onto the rock so surely he must've fallen. But then if he'd fallen he would certainly be a dead mush on the ground. Maybe this was heaven?

Actually it was more likely purgatory and he was going to be sent to hell for all the times he'd snuck spiders into his foster carers beds.

No matter how disoriented and confused he was right now, his main issue was where the fuck Kevin had got too. Surely if Avi was here Kevin should be as well. Then again, perhaps Kevin had been sent up to heaven already, or maybe he'd managed to stay clinging to the rock and was still there now.

Whatever had happened, Avi knew he had to find out.

He stood up from the tiny bed...and fell straight back down again. Damn he was dizzy. On the other hand Avi was beginning to realise that although his feet might have been unsteady, everything else felt perfectly fine.

In fact he felt great. Now that the initial blurriness had faded his vision was perfectly clear, maybe even better than before. Colours were brighter, images were sharper. Not that he'd ever worn glasses but Avi imagined this was similar to when someone cleaned their lenses after they had been dirty for a while.

A low muttering suddenly caught Avi's attention and he spun directly towards the source of the noise. He was still alone in the room. But that sound...it had seemed so close.

Avi concentrated his hearing in the direction he thought the noise had come from. "God damn saw!" That was so loud that it was impossible for it not have come from nearby, and yet there was nobody with him. Maybe it was another ghost in purgatory?

Avi shook such silly thoughts from his head and searched around for a way out. There was no obvious exit out of his little room, with every side surface covered in junk. Apparently Avi had just magically teleported himself inside.

He could wait and see if anyone came to get him, then make a run for it, but Kevin could be in trouble. In any case he at least had to check his friend wasn't still stuck on a cliff somewhere and that meant getting out, and fast.

"C'mon!" There was that same voice again. The one which sounded so close to him, yet at the same time seemed to have travelled quite some distance. Avi walked towards it and ended up in front of a bookcase. He would have rolled his eyes if there was anyone else to see him. Really? Could it really be that cliche? Avi felt around the edges of the bookcase and sure enough there was a draft coming from one side. Giving it a tug the shelves came swinging away, providing Avi with his exit.

Yes, freedom!

He exited into a dark tented hallway. What on earth was this place? It smelt of the outside still, wood and lush grass, so maybe he was in a kind of camp site. It was unlike any camp site he'd ever seen though.

He could also hear that same voice muttering to themselves, mainly just murmurs of complaint and annoyance, but could still see no figure for it to belong to. Avi followed that voice. He didn't really have much of a choice seeing as his only option was to follow the tunnel that lead towards it anyway.

For a good minute Avi just walked through the tented tunnel. It was stark bare compared to the room he had awoken in; just a stand holding a candle every couple of feet to light his way.

Finally, as he made his way around a bend, he discovered something other than tent. He'd found doors. Wooden doors, and a lot of them, all in a straight line. There were about fifteen on each side, each identical to the other, and this time Avi was absolutely positive the voice was coming from behind one of the mystery doors.

He focused his hearing again and slowly walked down the hallway. One, two, three, four. Four doors down and...to the left. Fourth door down on the left. That was the source of the voice that had been haunting the boy ever since he had woke up in this strange, giant tent.

At that point Avi was too curious and disoriented to remember his manners, and barged in through the door without knocking beforehand. The room he entered was nothing like the tent hall, it was more like a medieval torture chamber. Dark and dank with various tools designed purely for inflicting pain.

Over in the darkest corner there was a man with long, scraggly hair leaning over a wooden table, and making quite the raucous. He was busy hacking away at something and was breathing very heavily.

Upon entering the room the man turned round to reveal a beard that resembled his hair. "Huh, who's there?" The man called out, in a London accent was it? He sounded a bit like a character from Oliver.

Spying Avi by the door, he turned the full way round and revealed to Avi a sight which made sure he wasn't going to get a peaceful night's sleep for a good few days.

His arm had been decapitated. Not amputated but sawed off, and Avi didn't need to be a detective to work out from the saw in the guys hands and the limp arm on the floor that he had just walked in on someone cutting their own arm off!

The man stepped forward, blood still spewing from his severed limb and sprayed some of the red onto a nearby chair. "Oh now look what you've made me do!" he cried out in frustration. "Oi, come back 'ere!"

There was no way Avi was going back as he sprinted through the tented corridors, faster than he ever had before, as he tried to find a way out of this hell hole.

He sprinted down the corridor, round the corner...and straight into a man standing on his hands. The man, who was wearing a bowler hat and smoking a cigar looked up at him in surprise as Avi just continued on running.

"Stop 'im Seamus!" he could hear the other guy yelling.

Still Avi kept running, his heart practically beating out of his chest. He found himself in another cluttered room and allowed himself a moments rest. He didn't think they'd caught up with him. He'd never run so fast in his life.

That was when he replied he still wasn't alone. There was a small figure stood in the middle of the room. A tiny blonde girl, maybe seven years old was singing softly to herself and she was the first person that didn't send Avi running in terror.

"You, kid." He briskly walked up to her. "Tell me how to get out of here." He spun the girl around by the shoulder and felt the colour drain from his face.

The little girl looked normal in every aspect except her face wasn't entirely...human. More like it was porcelain, like she was one of those old fashioned dolls, that he used to creep the hell out of him when he was really small.

"Hel-lo?" the doll face chimed at him, mechanically tilting it's head a reaching a tiny arm out to him. Avi scrambled back on the floor, stuttering incomprehensible things at the doll face.

"Laddie's in here Ricky!" Two hands - or Seamus - was back (still on his hands of course) and brought with him Avi's first acquaintance, who was still trailing blood everywhere.

The doll face who Avi had most recently met began wailing, a high pitched screeching sound that had the other three putting their available hands to their ears until she trailed off into small cries, fat tears falling from her glass eyes. 

They were all shouting at each other and shouting at him, and not looking any more normal. They were also closing around him, and Avi found his legs had gone to jelly and were unable to keep him standing anymore. And so Avi did what any person would probably do in that situation. Avi screamed.

Somehow he found himself with a wooden chair in his hands and backed into the nearest corner he could find. Holding up his only useless weapon, a low, threatening growl Avi didn't know he was capable of emitted from his throat.

"Alright what are you load of dumb-asses jabbering about now?" Someone shouted out from behind them and the three immediately silenced and parted to let a boy through.

He was a small boy. Very small and very skinny, so much so that Avi mistook him for someone much younger that he probably was. He didn't know many thirteen year old boys who had stubble though. Avi glared at the kid, chair firmly in his hands still.

Not breaking the pattern, this boy also wasn't what you'd call normal looking. In the place of plain skin, he had a covering of tiny, green, glimmering scales, so faint that Avi probably would have almost missed them with his original eyesight. With his new found vision however, the kid certainly looked at home amongst the others.

The boy looked at him and grinned, his large dark eyes glistening in delight and his lips pulling back to reveal elongated canines.

"Well, well, well," he spoke in a high melodic voice. "Sleeping beauty is finally awake. Lucian will be pleased."


	4. Meetings

The boy before him had dark hair, with a long fringe stylishly brushed to one side. He was wearing a tight khaki green t-shirt and even tighter looking light blue jeans, with a pair of combat boots which looked spotlessly clean.

The boy's first reaction upon seeing Avi was to crouch to the floor and to lick his pointed teeth slowly and purposefully, his tongue lingering over the sharp point before he closed his mouth abruptly.

"Hmm, well he's not sick anymore," he informed the others, who appeared to be looking at the boy for some kind of reassurance. Sick? Avi had no recollection of being sick. The strange newcomer stood up and jerked his thumb to the side. "Alright, clear off you lot. He's alright," he commanded to the others. The two men gave Avi one last lingering look and walked off, both on feet and on hands.

The doll face girl was still whimpering as she turned about and the boy leant down, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Here Lucinda, wipe those pretty eyes," he cooed, wiping a hand over her porcelain face. "Don't be crying over this green guy, he's just hit his head which was why he was acting loco."

Avi didn't like being referred to as green, like he was somehow inferior to this creepy runt, but he kept his mouth shut because he didn't want to upset the little girl - assuming she was actually a real child - any more. He wasn't a monster.

"I'll come and read you a story before we open doors," the boy told her, giving her gentle nudge to send her on her way.

When the room had emptied the boy turned back to Avi with one eyebrow raised. "That certainly was quite a way to make an entrance, kid," he said, before giving Avi a little bow. "The name is Grassi, Mitch Grassi. Those three you just had the pleasure of meeting were Seamus, Ricky and little Lucinda. And you," he held his palms out, "are Avi Kaplan!"

So the little fucker knew his name huh? Did he want a medal or something? Taking a deep breath, Avi asked all at once, "Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck are they? Where the fuck am I? And what the fuck have you done with Kevin?"

The boy just seemed amused by his interrogation. " _Fucking_  follow me and you'll find out," he replied cheekily.

Avi glared at him. "Don't mess with me kid," he growled.

"You're in no position to be telling me what to do," the boy leered over him and Avi remembered he was still cowered on the ground. Avi had a short temper at the best of times, and being made fun of and belittled by a smart ass did not help.

He leapt to his feet with a quickness that was unnatural even for a seasoned fighter like he was and made a grab for the little guy's shoulders. He was going to have to get answers the hard way it seemed. Except his hands never made contact with skin - or scales, whatever - for in one fluid motion, the boy performed a gravity-defying manoeuvre where he leant backwards so he was almost at a ninety degree angle, and twisted under Avi's grasp so he was standing the other side of him.

Not one to back down easily, Avi made another grab for him and this time the boy made a dive for Avi's feet, looking like he was attempting to trip him up. Instead however, he once again broke the laws of physics and human bone structure by somehow not even touching the floor and serpentining between Avi's legs to come up behind him. This time he didn't give Avi a chance to strike again and grabbed him in a choke hold with a strength he wasn't allowed to have.

Avi felt his wind pipe being squeezed as if he were actually being strangled by a real boa constrictor and began flapping his arms about in a panic.

"Are you calm now?" the boy hissed in his ears and Avi had no choice but to go limp and nod his head in compliance. "You want answers, believe it or not I'm not the main guy around here," the boy - what was it Mike, Mark? - gave him a harsh shove away. "You wanna talk to Lucian, he's top dog around here, the gaffer so to speak, and it just so happens that now you're awake, he'll wanna talk to you too."

"H-how did you do that?" Avi spluttered.

"A Mitch never reveals his tricks," the boy told him. "At least not until he knows you better."

Mitch! That was it, Mitch. With his initial rage calming, Avi's senses returned to him along with his ability to remember names and right now there was only one name on the tip of his tongue.

"Kev–"

"Your friend is fine," Mitch interrupted him, crossing his skinny arms. "And he for one, didn't terrorise three performers upon waking up."

That took Avi aback. " _I_  terrorised  _them_?" he asked incredulously.

"Well I personally shake a persons hand rather than wave a chair at them." The small boy shrugged. "But each to their own I s'pose."

Then he turned, walked away and, when he noticed Avi wasn't following, waved his hand at him. "C'mon kid, let's get a move on," he ordered.

Avi frowned. "Don't call me kid, kid," he warned as he caught up to Mitch.

"I'll stop when you're not."

"What?"

"What, what?" The boy smirked.

"Jeez," Avi rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I must be in some kind of insane asylum."

Mitch paused before the opening of the tent. "Close," he gave Avi a wink. "Try Circo Di Freaks."

"Circo di what?"

Mitch didn't need to answer however, as he opened up the tent flap to reveal to Avi the outside world he had been longing for and everything else that came with it. It was a nice, sunny day and they were in a field - that explained the strong scent of grass Avi could smell earlier. Also there were more tents, a lot of them. And old fashioned traveller wagons and a big truck with the words Circo Di Freaks displayed in big gold letters on the side.

Avi stared around open mouthed at the site as Mitch dragged him along. "A freaking freak show," he stated, taking in the dozens of creeps like the ones he'd just met. People with weird skin tones, people with boy parts missing or extra ones added. He could have sworn he even saw a crocodile at one point!

"Please," the small boy stood on his tiptoes to put an arm around Avi's shoulder. "We're civilised folk here with feelings and all that crap. We prefer a freak circus, or circus of freaks, or Circo Di Freaks if you read the name on the big tent or are of Italian origin like myself or Lucian."

Even though Avi had just met Mitch, he already got the impression he liked the sound of his own dumb voice. Also must be pretty important if those other three freaks had listened to him.

"Where is this?" he asked.

"Just outside your home town. Didn't you see our posters?"

Come to think of it he had seen a few plastered in some grimy back alleys. Not exactly prime promotion spots.

"I don't like circuses," he muttered in reply.

"Ha, that's only because you haven't seen  _our_  show."

Avi didn't give a fuck about their stupid show. He just wanted to know what had happened.

"What happened on the cliff?" He began interrogating Mitch again. "How did I get here? I was clinging to the rock and then there was that lunar moon and I blacked out, and when I wake up I'm somehow at a freak show."

"Not me you should be asking," Mitch said in his same annoying know-it-all tone, pulling Avi round a corner.

"Why not?"

"Cos I'm not in charge."

"Is there anything you can tell me?"

"She throws her eyes."

"Excuse me?"

"Ah! So he does posses manners," the boy threw his arms to the heavens and the only thing stopping Avi from decking him was...well, what had happened when he'd tried to do that earlier. "Miss Evie over there. She throws her own eyes," Mitch explained. "They're like little bullets that can penetrate through most solid objects." The boy grinned gleefully at the thought. "That's her act. Pretty good for the mid first half of our show. Keeps the audience on their toes."

Avi stared at the dark haired woman, who's eyes were both still perfectly attached in their sockets and began to suspect if Mitch really was just insane.

"That's not possible," he told the teen.

"Oh kid," the boy chuckled, skipping ahead. "You have a lot to learn."

"Stop calling me that! You're what, fifteen?"

"I'll have you know I'm seventeen and I already told you: I'll stop when you're not."

Avi sighed, giving up on his questioning. "I hate riddles dude."

"Little tip then, don't go talking to Johnny Riddlez over there. That's the only way he knows how to communicate. Well, Scott can get a bit like that at times but that's only when he's..." Mitch trailed off and looked uncertain for the first time, but quickly shook the emotions away and casually said, "ah, you'll find out sooner or later. We're here!"

Avi looked up and saw a small, plain wooden shack that barely looked big enough to fit one person in.

"I'm going in that?" he asked in disbelief, sure that this was some kind of joke. The supposed seventeen year old was definitely a mischief maker.

"Hmm...umm..." Mitch pretended to think very hard, scratching the small amount of stubble on his chin. "Yep!" he suddenly exclaimed, going to open the door.

"You're serious?"

"Hardly ever kid!" The boy laughed. "But this time, yes." He gave Avi a shove though the door. "Just get in the fucking shack, mind your step."

It took Avi's eyes only a few seconds to adjust to the dark and he realised now that this shack was not a room, but rather the entrance to steep, wooden, spiral stairs leading downwards. And Mitch couldn't have just told him this in the first place?

As if he could read his mind the boy called after him, "what you see, and what is, are two very different things kid." Then he slammed the door shut, leaving Avi to have to wait a few more seconds for his eyes to adjust again.

Well, it seemed like he was committed to going down now, so Avi began the slow descent to what he assumed was most likely his doom.

"You're speaking to Lucian remember," Mitch shouted through the door. "And I recommend you don't try that whole screaming chair act thing again. He's not a man you want to make a bad first impression on."

"Fuck you snake boy," Avi muttered to himself.

The stairs went down and down, and round and round, and down and down some more. Avi wondered who the hell dug this deep into the ground and whether the freaks did this every new town they went.

After a while, Avi got so used to just walking down that he barely noticed the sudden door in front of him. There was nothing special about this door except for the fact it didn't have a handle.

"Uh, hello?" he knocked the solid wood. "I'm looking for a Mr Lucian."

"It's just Lucian dear boy. Please, come in." The door swung itself open. "We've been waiting for you," the deep voice called out to him.

Avi marched straight in, fully intending to cause a scene. "Listen here, I don't know who you think–"

His angry tirade was cut short however when he came face to face with the last person he expected.

"Kevin!"


	5. Reunions

"Avi!" Kevin beamed at him as he bounded towards his astounded friend. "I've been so worried about you!"

"Kevin I–" Avi took in the steaming mug of tea in his friend's hands and the fifty something year old man sitting behind a marble desk with his own drink. Apparently he'd walked in one some sort of delightfully charming tea party. "What's been going on?" he demanded to know.

"You've been asleep for a week, and they told me you were really ill at one point but they didn't let me see you." Kevin put his hands on Avi's shoulders and gave him the once over. "But you look great!" he exclaimed.

He'd been asleep for a week? The thought of being surrounded by these creeps for that amount of time was kind of distressing. Was that why Mitch seemed to know so much about him? He figured the little pest had a least been telling the truth when it came to him being ill.

As his friend was still excitedly babbling away Avi had begun to study Kevin and to his horror realised there was something very odd about him. Apart from the fact he was overly happy for Avi's liking, there was also a difference in physical appearance.

"Kevin..." he took in the boy's skin. "You're a freaking tree."

And it was true. His once perfectly normal looking friend, the one who had perfectly standard dark skin, was now anything but. His skin was the same colour, yet it had now taken on the appearance of something similar to tree bark, rougher and tougher with small ridges and cracks to give him a wood-like texture.

"Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it?" The older boy ran his hands over his arms and Avi also noticed that instead of veins, Kevin's body had now exchanged them for tiny vines that protruded out of his skin for that extra little touch. In other words, it now looked like one of Kevin's parents had been a plant. Avi took small blessings in the fact that his friend didn't have leaves for hair, branches for arms, roots for feet, or a squirrel nesting in his chest. There must be a doctor out there somewhere who could get his friend back to normal from this state. There must be a medical term for whatever disease his friend had contracted.

He gaped as Kevin continued to admire himself. "I think you might want your head checking out too Kevin." Avi tugged at his friend's now extra-sturdy arms. "C'mon, let's just go," he urged.

"What? Right now?" Kevin gave him a confused look and backed away a few steps.

"Tea Avi?" The guy - Lucian he supposed - had got up from his seat and was holding a steaming kettle. Mitch had mentioned something about him being of Italian origin, but unlike Mitch this guy had pale blond, almost white hair and pale skin. His age was hard to place. He could be anywhere between forty and sixty. He was also wearing a really cool brown trench coat which Avi knew Kevin was going to want to buy when they got home.

"No, I don't want your tea, I just want to get out of this place!" He had to get his friend back to normal. "Kevin, come on."

But for once Kevin did not follow. "I'm not leaving until I have all the facts," he told Avi, sitting back down and folding his arms. "And then I will make my decision."

Avi glared at him and Kevin tried to reason: "What harm can it do just to wait a bit? They've been good to me so far, and they looked after you even if you weren't conscious for it."

"For all we know they could have been the ones to do this to you!"

"We didn't," Lucian said, sounding almost bored.

"Please Avi?" Kevin pleaded, giving him a look that nearly always made the younger boy give in. Kevin was the only person who could have that affect on him.

He gave them both a hard look as he sat down. "Make it quick," he nodded towards Lucian.

"As you wish. I will briefly go over what Kevin already knows." The man paused to take a sip of his own tea before spreading his arms in presentation. "You are at Circo Di Freak. We are a travelling freak circus who have been entertaining townsfolk across America for nearly twenty years. You have been here for a week since we rescued you from the side of a cliff. You were both very ill from the trauma of the event. Kevin, here woke up three days ago and has been keeping me great company while we explored his new talent."

The two shared a knowing smile that made Avi feel uncomfortable. "And you, as you know, awoke today and caused a bit of havoc in the living quarters, didn't you?"

Kevin tittered quietly beside him. "Already Avi?"

"He did." The man smirked. "Luckily our Mitch was there to settle things before they got out of hand."

"Oh wow, you're lucky you got to meet someone else. The only person I've seen so far since I've been awake is Lucian, no offence."

"None taken. I would get tired of myself too. Anyway as to how you came to be here...that's a little more complicated."

"Just get it over with." Avi was getting tired with all this strange talk.

"Scott, he's kind of our, let's say seer, had a vision of the two of you."

"Who's Scott?" Kevin queried.

"Someone who's been with me for a very long time..." The man's features softened at some unknown memory. "You'll meet him soon enough, that is if you decide to stay."

Looked like Avi wasn't going to get to meet him then. What a shame.

"So our Scott, he gets these visions when there is a new individual who might wish to join us. As soon as we were informed of the circumstances of your situation we sent aid right away. Our Kirstie, my little angel, a lovely girl who specialises in aerial acrobatics got you down."

The raised some interest in Avi. "We were both rescued by a girl?"

Kevin gave him a quick nudge. "Twenty first century Avi, remember?"

The younger boy seethed in his seat. That was not what he'd meant. It was the idea that a "little angel" had managed to get two fully grown men down safely from a cliff.

"As for what happened on the cliff. Well that I can not answer for," Lucian continued. "What I can say is this: there are certain what you might call "unnatural phenomenons" that occur once in a blue moon, or should I say in your case a lunar moon."

Both boys were silent as the image of that blood red moon returned. Dark and ominous like a vivid nightmare.

"Sometimes these phenomenons occur during pregnancy, or develop in childhood, and sometimes they are the cause of a freak turn of fate. Mother nature works in mysterious ways," Lucian finished quietly.

Avi didn't feel like he had gained any knowledge from that little speech. "What are you saying? What happened to us?" he pressed for more answers. "Why does he," he held up Kevin's arm, "look like this?"

"Not just Kevin, Avi. Have you not noticed anything different about yourself since you woke up?"

"Well I haven't got vines growing out of me if that's what you mean," Avi spat back. "Nor do I suddenly have an urge to run around on my hands, chop off my limbs, and the last time I checked my face is not porcelain and my skin does not have scales."

"No heightened senses perhaps? Increased strength? Stamina?"

Avi's heart skipped a beat as the man somehow listed off exactly what he had been experiencing. He wasn't about to admit it though.

"No," he replied stoically and Lucian just shrugged.

"Oh well Kevin, it looks like it was just you who was the chosen one. That's a shame. If is always better to learn about one's abilities with another in the same situation."

Avi turned to Kevin with a puzzled expression. "What is he talking about?"

Kevin was unsure how to answer so Lucian carried on, reaching down behind his desk to pick something up. "Three days ago I presented Kevin with something similar to this." He held up a jagged rock about the size of a fist. "That object now looks like this, with no one having touched it." The rock he then produced was the exact opposite. Smooth and shiny, the type of result that thousands of years being battered by rain and sea would do to it.

"Three days work," Kevin sighed. "And still I've only been able to shine it."

Avi began to wonder if he'd taken drugs and this whole experience was just in his crazy imagination. He blinked and pinched himself hard to try and get back to his senses but nothing happened.

Lucian gave the boy a kind smile. "Your abilities will take a while to fully develop. Especially for those with earth manipulation."

"Earth what?" Avi felt like every singe thing he'd said so far had been a question. It was like that film Inception. You think you'd sussed out one dream and then you fell into another even more confusing one. "Kevin c'mon man this guy's got into your mind. You're both out of your minds crazy!" he shouted.

"Please lower your voice Avi," Lucian requested, his calmness only irritating Avi more.

"Don't you dare tell me what TO DO!"

Avi brought his fist down hard onto the desk, an act he was well familiar in doing. Except this time his actions didn't just create a loud thud...this time there was a humongous crack, and suddenly there were papers and tea all over the floor.

"No powers huh?" Kevin said quietly, observing the now two desks in front of him.

"Y'know my anger gets the better of me sometimes," he growled back but was unable to stop the quiver creep into his voice.

"You're tough Avi," Kevin whispered. "But not marble breaking tough."

Of course Avi knew that, and what he had just done had majorly freaked him out. He felt Kevin's hand on his shaking arm and suddenly the older boy had placed his hand on the back of his neck, forcing Avi to look him in the eyes.

"I know you're scared and confused. Believe me I am too," he admitted, "and I've had three days to try and process everything. But we can't just walk out of here without hearing Lucian out first."

Avi could see Kevin was desperate to stay a little longer and he couldn't contemplate leaving him behind. Damn it, why did his friend have to have such an unintentional hold over him?

He really didn't want to stay. He just wanted to leave and try and brush all their problems under the carpet. He wanted to go back to his normal life where the creepiest stuff he ever saw was in horror movies. But there was a reason he had remained friends with Kevin for so long. The boy was smart; and he trusted him with his life and he wasn't about to stop trusting his judgement now.

Besides, he supposed Kevin was right. This did seem the best place to get answers for their conditions, mutations, diseases, whatever they were supposed to call them.

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, he gave the older boy a nod. "Fine," he reluctantly muttered and Kevin's face lit up in delight.

Lucian had moved away from the wreckage of his desk - acting as if nothing had happened - to another seating area and gestured for the two to take a seat.

Avi took one last look at the exit before following Kevin over. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and sat down, now prepared to give this Lucian guy a decent shot. Little did he know he was going to have to make a decision that would change his life forever and kickstart a chain of events that would change the lives of everyone else around him.


	6. Contracts

Lucian wasted no time in getting down to business, fixing Avi with a steely look that said any more breaking of desks would not be tolerated. Fair enough.

"I'm going to lay it out straight for you boys," he proclaimed. "You have two options. You can leave here right now and not look back - meaning you will not be allowed back - and try and lead your normal lives as they were. I cannot guarantee how easy that may be seeing as we don't know the full extent of your new abilities. But be warned there are also those out there who would see people like us come to great harm. You may find yourself being hunted, on the run from law enforcements or private agencies."

Evading the law would not be a major upset to Avi, he had done so plenty in the past but the word hunted sent a shiver up his spine. The idea that there were people out there who would look at them as animals to be chased down was sickening.

"Or you could remain with us," Lucian continued. "We would welcome you with open arms and offer you a community where you could learn about your knew abilities and help teach you how to control them. This would mean embracing the circus life as a whole, be it as part of our show or as a stage hand, and it would be a permanent arrangement. I understand this is not the life for everyone and you would have to sign a contract agreeing to our rules." He sent a brief smile Avi's way. "Rules I understand Mr Kaplan, are not your best friend."

Avi wondered just what Kevin had been saying about him. A lot could be said in three days. It wasn't rules as such that he had a problem with, it was the person who made them, and in his life so far those people had more than often been cruel or stupid. Why should he follow the rules of someone he had absolutely no respect for and who viewed him as less than worthless?

At the moment he had no idea what the rules at a circus might possibly be but one thing was for sure, out of the five people he had met, three of them he had apparently terrorised, one had annoying written all over him and the so-called leader - gaffer, whatever - probably didn't see Avi in the best of light right now; what with the shouting and destroyed furniture.

His curiosity had been peaked though. "You said people like us?" Avi queried. "What can  _you_  do?"

This Lucian guy was the most normal looking person he'd met so far, and that included his reunion with Kevin!

The man in the trench coat gave a wry smile at the two of them and out of nowhere a gust of wind blasted through the room, blowing out all the candles except for one. That wasn't all though, for a second later tiny specks of golden light began to appear out of thin air in front of their eyes, flickering and zooming around like little fireflies. Avi watched in awe as the specks of light worked together to perform their very own show; creating first a soaring eagle, then a playful dog, and for the finale a lion that leapt towards the two boys before dissipating into the blackness.

Avi's heart was still thudding twice as hard as the light returned to the room and Lucian leaned back in his chair, smiling at the two enraptured boys.

"Some may call it magic, I just call it unexplained science." He grinned. "And to tell you truth I am still learning the extent of my abilities after nearly fifty years."

"That was..." Kevin left his mouth hanging open as his brain tried to catch up with what his eyes had just been witness to. "Mind blowing," were the words he finally settled on.

He turned to Avi once more and the younger boy sighed at the look in his friends eyes. He knew that look and was prepared for the question before Kevin had even uttered the first syllable.

"Can we see the contract?"

Sure. Why not indulge Lucian for a little longer? Avi just suddenly had the thought that both he and Kevin would be fired when they got back to work. Where would that leave them? There were very few places in town who would take ex-foster guys like them and Avi didn't want to go back to his old waiters job. He had quit that place for an extremely valid reason after the staff had been ordered to clean up after a guest who had gotten very intoxicated at a corporate event one night and taken a shit on the floor. No, he would not be going back there. He and Kevin could move towns if needed be.

Lucian returned with two forms for the boys to read. Three pages of thick, expensive looking paper, not papyrus or animal skin or whatever nonsense Avi had been expecting.

The first words put Avi off straight away.

PERFORMERS CONTRACT

Well that wasn't going to happen in a million years. The first part was just a load of crap that sounded like it had been stolen right from an Apple employee contract or something, with a few changes here and there where necessary:

_The object of these rules and suggestions is not to limit the employees in the enjoyment of their rights, but rather to promote harmony and goodwill, and co-operate with our employees in conducting our institution in a business-like, high-standard manner._

_The personal appearance and behaviour of each individual is important, not only in so far as the relations of employee with employee are concerned, but equally as much for the impression we make on the public. We should want the "town folks" to feel that the "show folks" are real men and women and ladies and gentlemen as well._

Yeah...real men and women, with real scales and real hacked of limbs. Then came the rules, divided into sections for the readers convenience.

PERSONAL

_1\. Be hygienic and refrain from loud acts of display._

_2\. There will be no fighting amongst employees._

Avi was pretty certain he'd already broke that one.

_3\. Any new discovered abilities are to be reported straight away._

LIVING QUARTERS

_4\. Loud talking, singing, playing upon musical instruments, or disturbing noises in or near the living quarters must stop at 11 P.M._

What is this? Freaking summer camp?

_5\. No entering another performers room without their permission._

_6\. Any acrobatic acts may not be practiced in rooms._

Those two right after each other made him chuckle slightly.

DINING TENT

_7\. Eat what you're given. No one gets any special treatments except for those with allergies._

_8\. When the green flag is up the meal is ready; when the blue flag is up the meal is over._

That one he definitely didn't like. It reminded him too much of his time in the system.

_9\. Drinking glasses are thoroughly washed and rinsed. Do not waste water washing them at the drinking tank._

_10\. No bringing audience members into the dining tent._

TO PERFORMERS

_11\. Take the same care of company wardrobe as you do your own; do not sit on dirty boxes, pedestals, wagons, on the ground, etc., while wearing spectacle costumes._

Spectacle costumes? Surely these freaks were enough of a spectacle already without a fancy frock.

_12\. Do not bring liquors or intoxicants into the dressing rooms._

_13\. Do not chew gum while taking part in spectacle._

_14\. Do not practice or rehearse in main tent after 6:30 P.M_

_15\. Do not play ball in the main tent or "back yard."_

_16\. Do not loiter about the "front" of the show grounds._

_17\. Do not interact with audience members for any other purpose other than "show" purpose._

Those all sounded pretty standard, even if the last one did seem a bit strange. Avi had no idea what "show purpose" would be.

The last paragraph was another load of jargon in his eyes:

_Since you have chosen to travel with Circo Di Freak, it is evident that your success depends upon the success of circuses in general, and the one by which you are employed in particular. Therefore, the greater the success of the circus, and especially the part of that success to which you contribute, the better it is for you and the more valuable you will be in your profession. - Don't overlook this point - do your best - it is for you first and the company second._

They seriously referred to this as a company? Below there was a line for a name and a signature. Avi thought it looked perfectly fine without his own name on it. Now they had heard everything, and got all the facts like Kevin wanted to, they could leave.

Screw being hunted by some mystery forces he had never heard of, Avi would take that over being a performing monkey and spending his life amongst these freaks any day of the week.

"Doesn't seem too bad, does it?" he heard someone say beside him. The voice couldn't possible be Kevin though. Kevin could get easily excited about stuff and could get very passionate but Avi knew his friend had more sense that to agree to a contract that involved basically signing their life away.

"You can't seriously be considering it?" he asked incredulously. "You're not thinking straight," he decided.

"No you're not thinking straight," Kevin interrupted him. "The way I see it," he speculated, "is we either leave and go back to our dead end jobs in a town where nothing ever happens to people who look at us only as ex-foster kids and possibly get chased by some crazed and misinformed hunters." Avi tried to interject to say tell him that story sounded more like a load of crap each time he heard it but Kevin was having none of it.

" _Or_ ," he raised his voice meaningfully, "we can take a leap of faith with these guys Avi. Face it, we're not normal any more, I especially don't  _look_  normal, and I intend to do some thorough research on it, and I believe this is the safest and best place for that. Who cares if he have to abide by a few rules while we're here?"

Avi shook his head adamantly. "But a  _freak show_  Kevin," he argued. "Forever."

He didn't want to be stuck here forever on a whim. He had plans. He had absolutely no idea what those plans were yet but he was sure he could make some up when they got back.

The older boy gave him a side glance. "Y'know I thought you were always the one who yearned for an escape," Kevin declared. "A chance to get away from our pitiful existence; our monotonous jobs, our pasts that follows us everywhere. I thought you would be the first one to jump at the chance to exchange your life for a more exciting one."

He would. He had always wanted to, ever since he had been a tiny child watching horror movies to escape from reality. But he had always thought if that chance did come it would be more...not like this. This was all so sudden. One moment he had been climbing along the cliff ridge and the next moment he had awoken in a completely new world.

It was damn scary, that's what it was. Avi was scared.

"I think this is it Avi. I think this what we've been waiting for."

Meeting Kevin's pleading gaze Avi realised he didn't really have much of a choice. The older boy was right, they had nothing and no one waiting for them back at home. He also didn't think his friend would ever truly forgive him if he walked away now, and that he couldn't have. Plus the fact that they both now had something...something  _wrong_  with them.

Turning a steely gaze to the man who had been watching their exchange in silent interest. "You promise you can help us?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"It's in our best interest to," Lucian vowed.

"Alright," Avi let out a huff of air. "It's clear you want to stay," he said to Kevin. "And I guess someone has to keep an eye on you."

Avi couldn't remember Kevin ever looking more delighted.

"You keep pens in this joint?" he asked Lucian, who merely smiled and gestured down towards their hands. There were already fountain pens there. "Yeah," Avi muttered, "figures." Magically appearing pens were the least astonishing thing he'd seen today.

Before his pen touched the paper Avi had one last moment of hesitation. There was still time to back out... No. Kevin was right. This could be their ticket out. Just do it you coward! His subconscious shouted at him.

Avi neatly jotted his name and his signature along the line and the two boys handed the contracts back to Lucian, who inspected them briefly before filing them away in that massive trench coat of his.

"Boys," he beamed at them. "Welcome to the family." That was kind of a dead greeting. Family didn't exactly mean much to Avi or Kevin. The intention was there though, Avi supposed and Lucian appeared very energetic all of a sudden, leaping up and spreading his arms wide like a man half his age.

"Now that you're both up and at 'em, how about a grand tour?" he asked.

The two shared a look with each other and shrugged their shoulders. Sure, why not?

"Excellent," Lucian clapped his hands together. "Mitch!" he shouted. "Get in here, I know you've been eavesdropping."

Oh please God no, Avi thought with dread but his prayers went unanswered as a familiar little head poked itself round the door.

"You'll show these two around won't you?"

"Of course!" the boy exclaimed ecstatically, giving Avi a cheeky wink. "Looks like we're gonna be friends after all kid!"

Avi wondered how long it would take for him to break that no fighting rule.


	7. Tours

Avi's impression of the little snake boy hadn't much changed in their brief time apart. He was still cocky. He was still loud. He was still annoying. He was still someone Avi didn't like.

By the time Avi and Kevin had given their farewells to Lucian and exited thorough the handle-less door, the boy had already made it to the top of the steps and was yelling at them to hurry up.

"Gentleguys," he greeted them once they exited the little shack. "As some of you may already know, my name is Mitch Grassi and I will be your tour guide today, taking you on a wondrous and mysterious journey through this humble little circus."

Kevin laughed and Avi sent him a glare. Snake boy didn't need any more encouragement.

"Kevin," his friend held out his hand.

"A pleasure Kevin," Mitch bent down to kiss it. "Kid," he sent a nod Avi's way before spinning around laughing. "Before we set off on our adventure do either of you have any questions? You can get snacks from those two love bugs over there," he pointed to a mini tent where two actual insect-like people with antennas were cooking up food. "Or if you need to relieve yourself, the bathroom is behind that tent over there."

Tents. There were just tents everywhere.

"I've got a question," Kevin started. "Your skin...it doesn't look quite right."  _There he goes_ , Avi thought. Straight in with the personal questions, too curious for his own good.

"He has freaking scales Kevin." Avi was still taking time to decide if his improved vision was a good thing or a bad thing. It meant certain people were all the more distracting and the one in front of him was not someone he wanted to be any more distracted by.

"Oh yeah, I can see them now," Kevin inspected the younger boy inquisitively. "I was worried you were ill but I guess that's just the colour right?"

"It is true I am a beautiful viper," Mitch responded, purposefully fixing up his hair as he said it.

"So I'm guessing you're super flexible and agile then?"

"Those are one of my many party tricks," he admitted giving Avi a wink. "Aren't they Avi?"

"Whatever."

No matter how much Kevin pestered him after that there was no way Avi was going to recall that scuffle with his humiliator in front of him. He promised he would tell his friend later, that way he could perhaps...twist the truth slightly.

The tour began with Mitch just pointing out the different areas to them and talking a lot of nonsense about anything and everything. He also kept doing that weird trick where he would snake around behind Avi suddenly to try and annoy him.

It was also revealed to Avi's horror, that he had signed the performers contract, and that meant yes, eventually he would have to take part in the shows. He cursed himself, talk about not reading the small print, he'd forgotten the huge print at the top of the contract!

Mitch didn't make things much better by gleefully telling the two that they wouldn't be a main part of the show for a long time, and would most likely be used to make the main stars - aka himself - look better.

"In other words," the snake boy laughed, "you're my bitches!"

Kevin took that in good nature. Avi didn't even attempt to.

Once they'd seen the living quarters, med bay, dining tent the big tent itself, and a few other little places, Mitch took them to the communal area - a large open field in the centre of the camp - to meet everyone. Talk about overwhelming. Avi had only glimpsed a part of it earlier, but now he was here he could count at least eighty performers or stage hands of all different ages, colours, sizes and shapes.

Everyone was busy in one way or another. Practicing their acts, running around with props or costumes, or ordering others to do so. There were also a lot of thick ropes running from the outer tents to a wooden post in the middle. He had noticed similar ropes running between the various tents too, but had assumed they had some structural benefit. Now though, they just looked like a major safety hazard.

Before he had a chance to ask about them he was being introduced by Mitch to a huge Canadian guy named Harold, who was busy munching his way through pots and pans, and quickly forgot all about the ropes. Despite his somewhat fearsome appearance, the big guy was extremely well spoken and polite and even indulged them in a trick where he ate a load of spoons, crunched them around in his mouth, and produced a huge spoon.

It was certainly one of the most astounding things the two boys had ever seen. And Mitch told them the guy was only a warm up act.

The rest of the day was spent just being introduced to everyone else and Avi grew tired of saying hello and being quizzed about abilities he didn't even understand yet. Still, there was no doubt the people here were interesting to say the least. And they all for some reason seemed to have a soft spot for Mitch, letting him talk them into performing for the two awe-struck boys.

There was the old lady, Tabby, who was missing most of her internal organs and instead just had an open cavity where they would normally be, who could play music on her ribs and the Croc Man who was kept behind bars. Mitch told them the guy was more croc than man - his head certainly was - and that he was only allowed out by a handler for shows.

Kevin expressed pity for the creature but Mitch reminded him it was either being trapped here, but well cared for and alive, or being let out into the wild, where who knows what damage he could inflict, or what might be done to him.

While they had been talking Avi had started poking the croc man with a long stick, until the suddenly the stick was in the guy's mouth and one of his handlers had begun shouting at him to leave it alone. Mitch eventually resolved the situation by volunteering Avi to clean out the croc's enclosure. Avi was very tempted to just leave some poisoned food down when he got around to it.

The next performer Mitch took them to was sat on a log near the centre of the field. She had her back to them as they walked over but the moment Avi saw her, his breath hitched in his throat and he felt butterflies in his stomach.

_Holy...she's beautiful._

Even from this obscure view, the girl's golden hair glistened in the sunlight and her dress fitted her tanned body perfectly. As they neared, Avi could see she was working on sewing together a sort of costume, her dainty hands working the needle deftly.

There was only one thought on Avi's mind as they walked round to greet her.

_Please don't have an animal for a head, please don't have an animal head._

"Hey Mitchy," the girl smiled up at them and Avi froze. With her golden locks framing her face perfectly, her glistening hazel eyes peered up at him under long eyelashes and he felt his heart beating against his clothes.

_What's happening to me? Am I having a heart attack?_

"How's things Kirstie?" Mitch ruined the moment by shoving him out of the way so he could sit down next to the girl.

"Just fixing my costume up for tonight," she explained, focusing her gaze on Mitch. "The terrible twins keep on chewing it."

Mitch sighed. "Someone really needs to train those pups."

The pups were four year old conjoined twins with canine teeth, tails and floppy, furry ears. A boy and a girl whose abilities hadn't developed yet, if they had any at all, and had spent most of their time bouncing up at Avi and scampering under their feet.

"Why don't you?" Kirstie gave the boy a shoulder bump. "All the little ones love you."

"True, true. But those two...slobber everywhere."

"A little drool never harmed anyone Mitchy."

"Hey! My skin is extra sensitive! I can't be missing out on a show because of it, the audience would weep."

Kristen rolled her eyes and giggled. Even just by listening to her Avi felt his senses tingling. Her laugh was so melodic, it was music to his new and improved ears, and her eyes...those eyes just twinkled when she laughed.

_Snap out of it you fool!_

For once Mitch actually helped the situation as he sprung up at lightning speed so he was behind the two boys, making Avi jump once more. He swore the snake did that purely to aggravate him. but at least he didn't feel quite as hypnotised by his latest acquaintance. Kirstie on the other hand didn't even bat an eyelid at the teen's antics and waited the teen to begin his predictable speech.

"Anyway enough about me," Mitch cleared his throat. "Kirstie, may I formally introduce you to Kevin the courageous and Avi the...ass kisser. Which is going to be his role in shows isn't it kid?" He gave Avi a slap on the shoulder. "And this is the lovely lady who saved your own asses. Kirstie, take the stage."

The girl stood up and shook her hands. Silky smooth skin met his rough ones, sending more foreign signals up his nervous system.

_Maybe she had electric abilities or something._

"Pleasure to meet you," she said, giving Avi a crooked smirk when all he could do was stare at her face like he didn't understand the english language. "I mean...I met you already but you were in dreamland."

This girl really rescued both of them? Her abilities must include super strength also because he couldn't imagine this little lady getting them both down.

Kevin gave Kirstie his mega-watt smile. "I don't know how we can ever thank you."

The girl thought about this and decidedly told them, "Just help out, don't cause trouble and that'll be good enough for me."

"We will," Kevin promised earnestly.

Avi was still too busy staring at the girl in front of him, and trying to work out why he was staring, to reply instantly, and had to be nudged by Kevin to bring him out of his reverie.

"Yeah, we will," he echoed Kevin.

"Good to hear Arnold."

Trying to keep his cool while he could hear Mitch let out a great guffaw beside him was extremely hard but he managed it, just.

"It's Avi...but yeah," he smiled awkwardly.

"Oh," she gave a shrug, "weird name." The girl smirked crookedly at him. "You'll fit right in at this place."

Avi, after some deliberation, took that as a compliment.

Kevin carried on chatting for the both of them, quizzing the girl about role in the show. "Lucian mentioned you specialised in aerial acrobatics. What exactly does that involve?"

Avi finally realised he'd been staring a bit too much and purposefully tried to look elsewhere, which probably gave off more of an impression that he was watching a fly buzz around him.

"Aerobatics I like to call it. I can...actually no," she stopped herself short. "I'm not going to ruin it for you. You can sit in on the show tonight and see."

"Aw okay," Kevin bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "Now I'm excited!"

Avi was too, but he imagined it was for a slightly different reason to his friend.

"There's no guessing you're an earth manipulator," Kirstie said, motioning towards Kevin's branch arms. "That's cool, I've only ever met one other when we crossed paths with a Chinese show."

"Yep, yep," Mitch sang. "Lovely people, even with that little misunderstanding when they thought Scott was a demon."

The two cracked up for a few seconds at some inside joke. There it was. There was that joyful laugh again. The one that made Avi feel so much more uplifted, like the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders.

 _Maybe that was part of her abilities. The power to hypnotise people with her laughter._  There must be a valid reason why she was making him feel this way.

"What about you Avi?"

"Hmm wha'?"

"The young lady is asking what makes you special Arnold?"

He was too tongue-tied to tell Mitch to shut up as he quietly muttered, "Oh uh, I dunno...I broke a table earlier."

"And you should just see how he wields a chair!"

If looks could kill Avi would have changed his profession to staring at Mitch but like earlier Kirstie stood up smiling fondly at the cheeky boy and grabbed him in a choke hold, messing up his perfect hair like you might do with a little brother, although the two looked to be about the same age.

"He's not annoying you too much is he?" she asked while Mitch wriggled in her grip. "This little snake hasn't quite learned the art of tact yet," she teased, giving the boy a shake for good measure.

"I concede! I concede!" he cried out.

_Yes, he is. Please rescue us._

"Nah," Kevin laughed. "I think he's hilarious."

"I knew I liked you Kevin," Mitch mused.

"You could come on the tour also," Avi found himself saying out of the blue. "So then we could have two perspectives."

He regretted opening his mouth from the moment he saw the knowing expression on Kevin's face and the wry smirk on Mitch's. "Ooh, Arnold doesn't think my perspective his good enough, does he? I'm good at impressions, I could give you a tour from the perspective of Christopher Walken."

Avi ignored to pest and pled his case to Kirstie. "I only thought you might want the break from–" he gestured to the her clothes, trying to justify himself.

"That's a kind offer and I would, but I really need to get this ready for tonight," she held up her costume so all the colours sparked under the sun's rays. "I'll see you at dinner before the performance though." She gave Mitch a push towards the others. "Behave yourself," she instructed.

The boy gave her a mock bow and skipped off, shouting at Kevin and Avi to follow him. "Ciao bella," he called out to Kirstie, while Kevin smiled and waved. Avi hovered around trying to think of something else to say, but nothing came and Kirstie began giving him a strange look; so he just gave a short nod and walked backwards awkwardly until he tripped up on a stray rope and turned embarrassed to the sound of that beautiful, melodic laughter.

_Definitely one of my favourite meetings today._

Even if he'd made a fool of himself, suddenly circus life didn't seem too bad.


	8. Fights

"How many more people are left for us to meet?" Avi moaned as he trudged after his friend and his new nemesis. He had met so many people today that they were all slowly blurring into one insane super-freak in his brain, except for Kirstie of course, she was still a picture perfect image in his mind.

"Just one, I've saved the best till last...well for me personally anyway," snake boy called back to him while Kevin hung off his every word. The two of them had been getting along famously, chatting and laughing away as Avi grew more silent and moody. 

 _Great_ , Avi thought.  _If this freak's snake boy's favourite then they are bound to be just as infuriating._

"He usually keeps himself away from everyone else a bit," Mitch informed them about their final freak to meet. "Too much noise gets to him sometimes."

That explained why they were leaving the communal area then and heading behind the show tent, the noise and the buzz of the crowded field dying down. For a moment Avi was worried the boy was leading them into some sort of trap for his own amusement, or maybe they had to do an initiation like in college frats, but slowly another boy came into view.

He was sitting on the grass by the tent surrounded by objects, looking like he was having a junkyard sale. Avi recognised him instantly. It was the exact same boy from the cliff. He narrowed his eyes at the figure, fully intending to get some answers from the eagle boy.  _Eagle boy and snake boy. What a little pair._

However about ten feet away, before anyone had said anything, the blond turned towards them and Avi was once again met with a pair of lilac eyes. No pupils, just full purplish orbs staring straight ahead.

_Is he really actually blind? Or is that just some weird discolouration?_

"Mitchy?" the boy queried, staring blankly in their rough direction. "That you?"

_Well that answers that question._

All of a sudden there was a whole shift in Mitch's attitude; he appeared calmer, any pent up energy and agitation leaving to replaced by a serene tenderness.

"Yeah baby," he called out. "Do I smell that bad?"

Avi watched open-mouthed as snake boy bounded over to lilac eyes and knelt down to give him a kiss on the lips.

_What the..._

"No, I just always know when you're near," the blond smiled once their lips parted, and even though Avi and Kevin had still yet to make a sound he still tilted his head in their direction. "Company?" he asked, sounding slightly anxious.

Mitch moved behind the blond, wrapping his skinny arms around the guy's neck and nestling his forehead into his hair.

"Yeah," he spoke quietly into his ear. "The two green guys you saw last week on the cliff, do you remember?" From the look on Kevin's face you could tell he had finally caught on to who they were meeting. Avi had forgotten he had been the only one to see the boy on the cliff. He noticed the new freak looked pretty much the same as before; white t-shirt and shorts was all he was wearing, a slightly fuller beard being the only noticeable difference.

"Been given them the tour," Mitch continued to explain to his... _boyfriend I guess?_  "You're the final stop."

"Oh..." the blond turned slightly red. "That's a bit anticlimactic for them," he whispered, somehow managing to avoid eye contact with the two newcomers.

"You? Never," Mitch insisted kindly, leaning forward to give the boy another kiss on the cheek which brought a wide grin his face.

Sitting up straighter the younger boy eventually introduced the last freak to the two new ones. "This handsome devil here is Scott," he began, trying to tame for other's messy hair. "He's a year older than me but as you can he's about ten foot taller, and you have him just as much to thank as Kirstie for rescuing you. We would never have known you were there if it weren't for his vision."

Avi and Kevin both mumbled out a greeting, kind of uncertain as to how they should act around Scott. There was something about him, he was different to the others they had met. All the freaks so far, including Mitch, had been obvious performers, even the ones who didn't take part in the show; they were all fairly extroverted individuals. This guy however was quiet and reserved, looking around and at Mitch like a well-trained dog might.

Seeing their nervousness, Mitch took pity on them and motioned Kevin to sit down in front of them. Then, reaching out, he placed Kevin's dark hand in Scott's pale one. "This guy's Kevin," he told the blond. "He's African American, twenty years old, brown eyes, black hair and a smile that could rival my own and he's–"

"An earth manipulator," Scott interrupted in wonder. "Nice to meet you Kevin," he smiled eagerly at the older boy as he released his hand, and if he had been an actual dog, Avi swore his tail would be wagging madly right now.

"You too Scott," Kevin was already obviously taken with the blond's earnestness. "Thank you very much for saving us."

Scott smiled bashfully, all of a sudden shy, and turned his head into Mitch's. "You're welcome," he murmured.

Kevin looked to Mitch for permission to continue to talk before saying, "You mind me asking what you're doing with all these funny objects?" He pointed to all the strange ornaments lying in front of the boy, a perfectly pointless gesture but Scott knew what he was on about anyway.

After a little bit of nudging from Mitch he replied, "Seamus, the guy who walks on his hands...he likes collecting things each town we get to. Hopes they're worth a lot or something. And he asks me to check their history to see if they're authentic." He sighed, picking up a statue of a tiny owl and throwing it in the air a few times. "It's kind of boring."

"Well that's the problem with never being able to say no to people," Mitch commented, giving the older boy's head a friendly push. "One of his abilities is to get a glimpse of an object's past," he addressed Kevin again. "By touching it he gets these images sent to him. Useful when you're trying to find out if this is the real pocket watch owned by George Washington."

The teen held up the small, gold time-keeper and peered at his reflection. It looked old and authentic enough for Avi to believe it could be sold for quite a profit, even though he doubted it belonged to their first president. Lilac eyes had different ideas it seemed, as he reached out clumsily to snatch the watch from the younger boy.

"It's not," he corrected them. "It was stolen from a guy in Seattle and he had it made for him by his mother. It's worth thirty at most."

His statement was spoken so honesty and without hesitation that it made Avi want to believe him instantly.  _And why shouldn't I?_  He supposed with all the stuff he'd seen today, why shouldn't this kid be able to see into the past? Still, like with Lucian, this ability was a bit...well,  _unnatural_  for him to feel completely comfortable with.

"Wow." Kevin on the other hand was in awe.

Avi saw this as a good time to clear his throat, just to make sure he hadn't been completely forgotten about while the other three had a lovely bonding session.

"Hmm?" Mitch glanced up at him. "Oh yeah! Nearly forgot about Mr Grumpy."

He motioned Avi over with a wink and pointed at him to sit where Kevin was. Avi did so. Up close he could get an even better view of lilac eyes and saw in fact his eyes weren't just solid purple orbs, and were rather swirling and marble like, the colours constantly moving like some unknown force was whipping them up into tornados. It was very disconcerting.

When the snake boy reached down to grab Avi's hand, he whipped it away with a glare. He could put his own hand in another male's thank you very much. Hesitantly, he held his hand out and placed it in the other, and immediately he felt another presence within him. It was impossible to describe, it felt like someone was invading his privacy, inspecting his very soul. He could feel it, reaching out, it wanted to make contact with him.

Something inside of Avi awoke, something feral and ferocious that lashed out in self-defence at the foreign presence and it retreated, scared. Avi snatched his hand back instantly, and in Scott's face he could see a slight change in expression. No longer was he just serene and slightly shy. He looked curious now, with a hint of intimidation. Whatever Avi had just felt, he was almost certain this boy had felt it too.

"This bundle of joy is Avi," Mitch began, unaware of the internal punch up both boys had apparently just taken part in. "Nineteen, needs to get out in the sun more, green eyes, brown hair, a fake beard and I don't think he knows how to smile."

The thing inside of Avi that had just been lashing out was still free, and it wasn't putting him in the best of moods. Now Avi had never been known for having the calmest of temper's, but this feeling...it was like he had a caged tiger prowling around inside of him. Mitch's introduction and the following laughter that came from the blond annoyed him greatly, more than it should have; and he lost control.

"Hmm yeah," he sneered at the blond boy. "Thanks and all that for watching us nearly die up there."

All three were taken aback by his random and sudden attack. "Avi?" Kevin questioned uncertainly.

"If you could turn into a guy from an eagle, or the other way round whatever, why couldn't you just give us a hand? Then we wouldn't be stuck here." Avi had no idea if any of what he said was making sense, or quite why he was saying it. All he knew was he had this intense rage inside of him that needed to be released, and Scott was the nearest and easiest target. "Or did you want us to end up here?" he asked accusingly.

"Avi dude," Kevin groaned, giving his arm a shake which had little effect. Avi could also see Mitch was seeing red and was most likely only being kept back by the larger hand belonging to Scott on his own. The blond had yet to retaliate.

Avi had thought that by getting rid of his anger, that it would dissipate, but alarmingly it was only growing stronger and he found that by now, he was beginning to lose control physically as well. His limbs were quivering, like they were eager for a fight.

"If you can do all this maybe you made it happen in the first place, it was your voice in my head wasn't it?" he continued to try and aggravate Scott, who was still unresponsive.  _Don't just stare at me you blind fuck! Fight back! Just say something!_  Avi was scared now, he didn't know what was happening to him. He couldn't understand why he couldn't reel his anger in.

In a weird way it was kind of lucky that his next cry of: "You knew exactly what was going to happen!" and the index finger he extended that was intended to poke the blond boy on the shoulder was all Mitch was prepared to put up with.

Avi almost felt relieved when the snake boy lunged at him with those elongated fangs of his bared. That was until he was lying flat on his back with the boy hissing in his face.

"You say another word and I'll rip your tongue out!" Mitch yelled, so infuriated that tears had begun to form in his eyes. Avi could feel the thing inside of him struggle, willing Avi to get back up and fight, but it wasn't strong enough and Mitch's python-like grip on him was getting tighter.

 _Good. Snake boy's actually doing me a favour._  Avi almost felt fully in control of his own body again.

"What happened to the no fighting rule snake boy?" he added for good measure. "Your blind boyfriend makes you exempt from that?"

With a enraged cry, the younger boy brought it fist into the air and Avi shut his eyes, prepared to take a punch.

_Go on snake boy. Punch whatever's inside of me out._

The punch never came though, as Scott's voice eventually rang out, a desperate plea to his boyfriend.

"Mitchy leave him! He's just scared, it's not him Mitch." Just hearing Scott say out loud that it wasn't entirely Avi who had been speaking earlier did the world of good for him. He finally felt himself regain his composure - if not his calm - when Scott said, "It's the thing inside of him, his ability."

_Why can't I just be freaking plant like Kevin? What the hell is inside me?_

Mitch was still glaring at him, not quite so prepared to forgive and forget. He turned his head briefly to Scott. "That still doesn't give him the right–"

"He's just not strong enough to control it yet Mitchy," the older boy spoke softly, attempting to calm the youngest boy. "He's still a townie basically."

Mitch turned back to lock eyes with Avi and the older boy could tell the temptation to just deck him in the face was strong.

"Mitch please..." Luckily for him, Scott's voice held even more power for the snake boy as he took a deep breath and heaved Avi to his feet by his jacket.

Getting right into his face, he told the older boy: "His abilities are one of the strongest here but I can tell you that does not include teleportation. I don't know what you think you saw when you were clinging to that dumb rock but if Scott could have helped in any way he would have." And with that he gave Avi a shove that sent him stumbling backwards.

"I'm sorry," the blond spoke up once more, looking dejectedly down at the ground. "I had to use the eagle feather to get that high up. I was never there, it was just a projection of me. Sometimes that happens."

None of that really made any sense to Avi, but he was now calm enough to see that Scott wasn't the sort of guy who hurt people. Avi knew what those people looked like, had grown up with them, and it wasn't shy lilac eyes in front of him. All that stuff he'd said earlier, that had just been the worst part of him speaking, the sort of stuff you might think in the darkest part of your mind but never actually voice out loud. But at the time it hadn't been up to Avi what he said. No, something else had been pulling the strings.

Combing a hand through his hair, and looking the most serious Avi had ever seen him, Mitch quietly requested, "Scott, take Kevin to dinner won't you? Flag'll be going up soon, I'll meet you there."

The blond stood up without a question and beckoned for Kevin to follow him. At least Avi finally got his question about why there were so many ropes everywhere, as he watched the blond walk off with one hand placed firmly along the rope at all times.

He and Mitch just stood in silence until the others were out of sight. Once they'd gone Mitch then took the opportunity to rip into him again, except this time he didn't get up close and personal. "Listen you shit head.," he growled at Avi from a distance. "Pick a fight with me or just about anyone else here above the age of twelve if you want. I guarantee we will send you away with a deserved bruised ego and a couple of broken ribs, no harm done really."

Actually broken ribs hurt a lot, and they were annoying. Especially when you were a restless seven year old trying to get to sleep.

He didn't point that out to Mitch though as the younger boy continued his tirade against him. "But if you dare even lift a finger against Scott again, I can assure you that you will have a whole circus of freaks who would love to tear you limb from limb and feed you to the Croc Man. And I'll be first in line." He finished his half warning, half threat with a stern, "Do I make myself clear?"

Avi just nodded solemnly. He didn't doubt what this version of Mitch had said for a second. The snake boy regarded him for a second, before jerking his head towards the communal area.

"Walk on kid," he ordered.

Avi did just so.


	9. Meals

They caught up to Kevin and Scott just outside the dining tent and just as Mitch had predicted, the green flag indicating the start of the meal was up. The two had already collected their food and were standing with their trays by the entrance just to make sure their respective partners turned back up in one piece.

Avi nodded towards Kevin to let him know all was good but before they could actually reach them though, Kirstie breezed up from nowhere, grabbing to two boys by their elbows and pulling them inside. Mitch explained they were most likely going to find a smaller table as meal times could apparently get pretty rowdy and certain members - he wasn't going to name names but didn't look entirely innocent himself - liked to start food fights.

On their walk back Mitch had been surprisingly pleasant despite what had just occurred between them a few minutes beforehand. He still talked at a super fast pace, and joking around, poking fun at Avi whenever he felt necessary, but it was a big improvement on the angry young boy who had been hissing at him earlier. He didn't even play that little trick he loved this time, the one where he would suddenly snake himself round to Avi's other side, despite having found the older boy's previous reactions hysterical.

Upon entering the dining tent Avi was immediately taken aback once again by just how many people there were. Every inch of the tent was packed with people, and all those people had one goal in mind. Eating.

On one end of the tent there was a long serving counter where people where walking down and grabbing whatever took their fancy. In the centre, it was mainly taken up by narrow tables that stretched the length of the whole tent, like you saw at weddings except nowhere near as glamourous. And on the other side there was a mini stage where a few of the performers were having a go at what sounded like stand-up. There were a lot of playful boo's directed towards them anyhow, or at least Avi thought they were playful.

Even though it was pretty self-explanatory how the the system worked, Avi still asked, "What do we do here?" He'd had enough of being shouted at today so wasn't about to take any risks.

If Mitch thought his question was a dumb one, he didn't call him out. "Old fashioned school system," he explained with a smile. "Little tip: avoid the beef, you don't wanna know what they feed those cows," he cackled, zipping off ahead of Avi to join the line.

Avi followed uncertainly, wondering what type of food he was going to be presented with, but to his great relief it was neither brains nor spider eggs he was greeted by, rather just your everyday fries, chicken and vegetables. In fact the vast variety of the food available was impressive and wouldn't have seemed out of place at a wedding, if that wedding was one between two broke college students.

In the end Avi helped himself to a load barbecue ribs, fries and a couple of tomatoes so he could give the impression he wasn't that unhealthy. Grabbing a drink of some bright green liquid in it that Mitch assured him only just qualified as non toxic, he followed the younger boy over to one of only a few small tables in the far corner, the one that the other three had dashed off to bag earlier.

Kirstie and Kevin were sat on one side, Kevin chatting away enthusiastically as always, making the girl laugh while Scott sat listening politely on the other side.

"Hey Avi," she greeted him as he took his - what he believed rightful - place at the head of the table so Mitch could sit next to Scott.

"Hi," he replied, giving the girl a big smile; he couldn't help himself, the moment he saw her he just felt like everything was a little bit better. The freakout his body had had not too long ago didn't frighten him quite as much.

Scott also greeted him, asking "Are you okay Avi?" with a concerned look, one which Avi did not feel he deserved considering what he'd said to the guy beforehand.

"Uh yeah...thanks."

The blond gave him a small smile.  _Don't worry, we're gonna help you._  Avi stared at him. Scott had just spoken to him but no one else appeared to have heard, and he was pretty certain the boy hadn't opened his mouth. It was just like a repeat of the cliff, when he had heard Scott's voice in his head. He still wasn't quite sure how he felt about it and had a moment of panic where he wondered if the blond could read his mind as well.

While the others all chatted and laughed, Avi conducted a little experiment. He used all his experience of horror movies, and various...ahem, adult movies to imagine up some disgusting and vile images in his mind, so creepy that he even shocked himself, and watched for the blond's reaction the whole while.

Seeing as the blond was still able to consume his pizza without choking on it, Avi crossed out the theory that Scott was spying on his brain constantly. Still, Avi thought he should be careful about his feelings around the guy.

"So are you looking forward to watching the show tonight?" Kirstie's voice brought him back from the horrible scenes he had been conjuring up and back to her kind face.

"I can't wait!" Kevin exclaimed. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

The girl grinned at his friend. "I'm gonna be ramping up the action especially for you Kevin," she promised him with a wink.

That Avi would not mind one bit. "So do you all partake in the show?" he asked, attempting to insert himself into their conversations like someone who possessed natural social skills, a hard feat for him.

"We do," Mitch replied, gesturing to himself and Kirstie. "Scott does crowd control mainly."

"Huh?" Both Avi and Kevin responded at the same time.

Scott huffed. "Ignore him," he said, giving the small boy a nudge. "I just help calm people down sometimes if they get a bit freaked out," he explained.

 _Does that mean getting in their heads too?_  The blond did seem to have an calming aura about him, or at least Mitch was nowhere near as hyper as he was when it had just been him and Kevin. Anyway, more importantly why did people need to be calmed down in the first place?  _Surely they knew what to expect if they were heading to a freak sh...circus_ , Avi reminded himself,  _freak circus._

"Is that a normal occurrence?" Kevin asked for him in surprise.

"Yeah..." Scott admitted truthfully. "But people only faint a few times."

_What?_

"Faint from the amazingness of it all he means," Mitch butted in, reaching up to place an arm around his boyfriend and giving him a warning shake, ignoring the frown Scott sent his way.

"Great," Avi stated. "Great, can't wait," was the only reply he had for that nugget of information. Even Kevin looked a bit put out that people were blacking out during the show.

Kirstie smiled softly at the both of them. "Don't worry boys, you'll be fine," she insisted, trying to offer them some reassurance. "I know I loved it my first time."

Kevin was placated by that, the trusting guy he was. Avi not so much. He felt he'd embarrassed himself enough today without passing out in front of everyone.  _It's just the same as the movies_ , he tried to comfort himself.  _You've seen hundreds of horror films, you can handle it. This should be a weird kind of fantasy come true for me._

"How long have you guys been here then?" Kevin queried, and Avi was grateful for his friend attempting to bring the conversation back round to them rather than the show. "You get here the same as us, rescued by a pretty lady off a cliff?" he finished with a smirk.

Avi narrowed his eyes. Kevin always had been the better one at talking to girls. Not that Avi had cared before, but then there had never really been a girl he'd been interested in talking to until he met Kirstie.

"No," Kirstie answered, not taking Kevin's compliment for any more than a friendly comment, which is most likely what it probably was. "No, nothing of the sort."

"Kirstie's only been with us a year," Mitch informed then, before giving the girl a cheeky smirk. "That's one year too many if you ask me."

"Shut up," she laughed, throwing a bread roll at his face. Avi was pretty sure the boy had fast enough reflexes to duck but allowed it to hit him anyway, mock falling off the bench and rolling around the floor in pain while Scott looked around in confusion, having no idea his boyfriend had just been attacked by a baked good.

Kirstie just rolled her eyes and ignored his immature behaviour, turning back to Avi and Kevin. "I was working as a waitress at a little cafe," she began. "I lived the life of a perfectly normal sixteen year old girl, hung out with friends, went to the beach with my family, was well behaved in high school," she trailed off, her eyes gaining a faraway glint, reliving her now past life.

She met Avi's gaze again and he could see that the pain of whatever made her leave that life was still present. "Without wanting to spoil the show for you, I'll just say that I'd been living with my abilities for two years, it wasn't hard to hide luckily. At least not from the people closest to me," Kirstie continued, only focused on him now.

"And then...?" Avi breathed out.

"And then I got found." Her eyes turned dark. "The people who Lucian tried to scare you with, they're real I can confirm that." She took a deep inhale of air before regaling a tale that almost made Avi and Kevin's seem like a fun day out. "They came for me at the end of a shift one night, these guys dressed like they were some freaking bank robbers, grabbed me and dragged me to this black van, injected me with something that knocked me out instantly." She shivered involuntarily despite it not being remotely cold and Mitch - who had returned to a normal seating position - reached out across the table and took her hand.

Kirstie smiled at him. "I can't really tell you what happened in between then and waking up in this crazy town but I do know this little snake had a hand in it."

The boy grinned back at her. "That was a fun night!" He laughed. "They didn't stand a chance."

 _Did snake boy kill these guys or something?_  Avi didn't really want to hear that tale right now if he had and luckily Kevin didn't ask for any more detail, allowing Kirstie to finish.

Missing out anything else she might remember Kirstie skipped to: "Lucian read me rules and showed me the contract and...I didn't have a choice really. They'd found me so I couldn't stick around and put my family in danger." She chuckled slightly. "I made out that I'd "fallen in love" with some hot Italian boy–"

"Not too far from the truth–" Mitch put in, wiggling his eyebrows.

" _And_  I wrote them a letter explaining how I was leaving with him and that they shouldn't look for me. I still write to them every couple of weeks but they can't reply of course." She cast her eyes downward, looking vulnerable for the first time since he'd met her. "I hope they miss me," she said in a small voice.

"Of course they do." Avi leaned forward in earnest, expressing more emotion than he normally did but he felt he had to comfort the girl in any way he could.

She gave him a grateful smile. "This life isn't bad though," she revealed. "Not when you've got these two around."

"What about you two then?" Avi directed his next question at Scott and Mitch, shocked that he was still leading the conversation. "Did you come as a pair?"

His small jest even brought a smile out of snake boy who yelled "I wish!" a bit too loudly that earned him some "shut up's" from other performers. "Nah," Mitch leant into the blond's side, "my big boy here's been with the circus since the start, or the start of what it is today anyway."

Avi felt a bit mean turning to Scott for answers; the guy really didn't like having attention on him but replied politely all the same. "It used to be just a normal circus. Lucian was still the ringleader but no one knew about his...extra stuff. And then I got here when I was five. Been here ever since."

 _When he was five?_ This guy really was an old-hand at the life of a traveller then.

Mitch gave the blond a poke in the head. "Kinda missed out some key information there babe."

"You tell it better than me," Scott argued, lowering his head in shyness. Mitch looked positively delighted.

"Alright, listen up gentleman!" he called out to his audience of two. "Picture this: it was a dark and stormy night–"

"It was midday in July."

"Shh," he placed a finger to Scott's lips "You've already given me the reigns," he reminded him before starting up again. "Okay it was a sunny day in July. A much younger Lucian was troubling himself over the circus's finances - what was it called before?"

"Lucian's Travelling Circus," Scott answered.

"Huh...no wonder they weren't making much money," Mitch marvelled. "So Lucian, needing to clear his head, goes for a walk by himself. He'd admiring the trees and the flowers and the little birds, when all of a sudden...BANG!"

Both of his listeners jumped back in fright as the boy suddenly shouted and smacked both his hands down on the table, causing the whole thing to shake. Kirstie just bit her lip to stop herself from laughing while Scott looked at him in surprise.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked.

"If you could see the looks of their faces baby, you would agree it was worth it." He grinned cheekily at the two still recovering boy's. "So there was no explosion," he edited his story, "but he hears this little voice say "Lucian," and he turns and see's no one. But then the voice calls him again and he looks down and see's this little boy with the most amazing eyes you've ever seen."

He lifted his hand to turn Scott's face to his, matching his line of vision with the other boy's so it looked as if they were staring into each others eyes like some sickeningly sweet lovebirds; only one of them was benefitting from it however.

Scott's face remained unchanged as Mitch finished with his little performance. "To cut a lot of chat short, Scott here tells old Lucian that he knew he had to find him and says that they have to find a guy named Harold who can eat and digest anything. The rest of it's history really, Lucian and Scott put together our rag-tag group from all corners of the world."

"But why did you go up to Lucian?" Avi continued to question, more fascinated by this tale than he thought he would be. "What about you family?"

Scott turned to his general direction and gave a small shrug.

"You don't know?"

"I don't remember anything from before this," he said, so quiet it was almost inaudible. "All I know is one day I woke up with only one goal in mind and I walked for a long time until I found Lucian. I don't really know why I did it."

Kevin shook his head in wonder. "That's insane."

Avi mumbled in agreement. "What about you Mitch?" he asked, getting ready for what was probably going to be a long and rambling story filled with reenactments and crazy hand gestures.

However quite the contrary the boy stiffened, suddenly very quiet and Avi could sense an awkwardness settle amongst the three. "Me?" he acted as though the query had come as a great surprise. "Oh I've been here since I was twelve, nothing interesting about my story."

"Everyone else had shared," he pointed out.

Mitch gave him a long look, as if was being the annoying one this time. "Valid point kid," he said through gritted teeth. "I came from a background not too dissimilar to you to, but let's just say I didn't stick around for as long." Scott went to move closer to the boy but he was stood up quicker than Avi had ever seen him move. "Oh, is that the time?" he asked, not studying any particular clock or watch. "I've got an audience to prepare for," he marched off cooly, stopping only to call out to Scott, "Coming?''

The blond stood up immediately. "Yeah Mitchy." He moved forward with his hand outstretched until he was close enough for Mitch to grab it, and then they both headed off, without a word more spoken.

 _Where did that come from?_  It was clear now that the boy's past life was a prickly subject. Still that didn't put him up much in Avi's estimations; he'd had a rough ride too and you didn't see him acting like...whatever word you used to describe the way Mitch acted. _He's an enigma alright. And people say I have a split personality._

"I know he can seem like he's a cocky little know-it-all, but he's a good guy. Give him a chance," Kirstie spoke up in Mitch's defence as she stood up herself, placing a hand on Avi's shoulder.

"I'll be looking for you in the crowds tonight," she whispered into Avi's ear, before she too disappeared amongst the crowds.

He looked towards Kevin and saw that his friend was just as confused by what had happened as he was. Then he looked down at table and frowned.

_Leave us to clear up your trays, why don't you?_


	10. Shows Pt. 1

Bedlam. It was absolute bedlam backstage as Avi tried his best to follow Scott through crowds, who only knew where he himself was going through sheer photographic memory.

"'Scuse me," he called out, trying to squeeze past a lady who could inflate herself into a balloon shape; all very impressive but not very practical right now. She bobbed out of the way and Avi continued to chase after the blond.

_Damn you for having such long legs._

He tried to look out for Kirstie or Mitch but they had long been lost to the sea of thirty or forty something performers and over twenty stage hands. He couldn't believe the show was scheduled to start in ten minutes - at eleven in the evening - when there was still so much mayhem backstage.

"Sorry!" He apologised as he stood on someone's costume, even though it was their ridiculously large skirt that had tripped  _him_ up.

"Scott! Slow down!" He yelled to the boy who either ignored or could not hear him above the racket, and the next time Avi lost sight of him for a split second, he disappeared completely.

"Scott?" Avi's eyes darted around frantically trying to locate his guide. There was  _too much_  going on. He thought that maybe with his new enhanced senses tracking people would be easier. Not apparently  when they were amongst a huge crowd and he was being bombarded with smells and sounds from every direction.

Luckily Kevin had been in a better position to view the blond at the time and knew where he had gone. "Under there," he spoke loudly into Avi's ear, pointing to a wooden plank lying at an angle against some boxes.

Only just managing to fit through the tight space himself, Avi wondered if Kevin had truly been right in the tall boy going this way.

The answer was yes, yes he had been; for there, sitting cross-legged on the lower part of some scaffolding was the blond.

"Thanks for showing us the way," Avi said sarcastically as he made his way over and sat down next to the younger boy.

Scott jumped at his presence, having been caught unawares, making Avi feel slightly guilty, but he had assumed that lilac eyes just somehow always knew who was near him, like when Mitch had first introduced them.

"Oh I'm very sorry!" Scott was extremely apologetic and Avi felt any sort of annoyance at him evaporate. "It's just I always have to be concentrating really hard at this time of day...and then it makes me forget about other stuff." Even though his eyes were completely alien to Avi, he could have sworn at that moment they looked sad. The guy really was sorry for unintentionally abandoning the two newcomers.

"No worries," Avi put his mind at ease. "You shouldn't have to be a baby sitter for us when you've got to do...crowd control or whatever it was."

The blond smiled. "That part usually comes later. Right now I have to check we have no unwanted guests arriving," he explained in his way that always left the listener wanting more. Avi didn't know if he was being purposefully ambiguous or if he forgot not everyone knew as much as him. Knowing the boy like he did so far, he was going to place a bet on the latter.

"Unwanted guests?" Kevin queried. 

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "People from the organisations, like the ones who tried to kidnap Kirstie." He paused to concentrate on whatever was going on in that mysterious head of his. "Most of the time I'd have a premonition if someone bad was going to come and Lucian would send one of the guys out to deal with them before they got too close," he continued after checking out the latest lot of arrivals. "But it's always safe to check them at the doors as well."

"Has anyone from these organisations ever turned up on the night?" Avi asked.

"Once. A long time ago, when we weren't as prepared." Avi noticed the blond's body stiffen at the memory. "We had to resort to releasing the Croc man," he informed them quietly, before shaking his head and the memory away. "Some days I'm glad I wasn't able to see that."

Both boys were quiet as Scott continued acting as security guard for the time being. While he had the chance Avi took in the other boys scents. It sounded dumb but there was no denying that Avi could now individually identify different people by smell alone. It was so strange. Kevin and Scott smelled so different and yet if Avi had to describe what they smelled like he would have struggled. It wasn't anything like grass or hay, or like any aftershave. They were scents he had never really experienced before, but now he had there was really only one name for them. Kevin and Scott.

 _I'm_ _a human hound dog!_ Avi jokingly thought, his impression on his new "abilities" a little more positive than earlier on.

Sight. That was the other one. His sight was definitely better, as confirmed when Kevin complained he could barely see anything, before getting embarrassed about making that comment in front of Scott.

Avi listened in amusement as Kevin began apologising to a very confused Scott, who obviously hadn't been paying attention anyway, while at the same time looking around the tent himself. 

 _It is really dark,_ _isn't_ _it?_ Avi only realised now that the whole tent would be practically impossible to see in if you didn’t have super light-sensitive eyes. Even for him, it was more shapes than specific features he could make out.

The lights had been dim from the get go, and audience members were shown to their seats by a man who's whole body glowed bright neon yellow in the dark.

Unlike a conventional big top circus, Circo Di Freak had a more traditional theatre style layout, with rows of seats ascending to the back in a semi-circle. There was also a lot of scaffolding everywhere, like the one they were sat on right now, that probably didn't pass any health and safety regulations, and was from where Avi could just about see stage hands clambering about on top.

Then to the left of where the three were sitting was the backstage area, only visible from this side as a large black canvas.  _People would be shocked if they saw what was really going on behind there._

As for how performers were meant to get into the ring, it was not very clear, but Avi assumed that would all be revealed in due course and the circus hadn't been so busy that they forgot to add the key element of a door to their set.

Every seat was nearly occupied now and Avi guessed there to be about a hundred and fifty strong audience when Kevin kept pestering him to tell him what he could see.

Avi wanted to tell him that it wasn't what the audience looked like that was the most interesting thing, but how they smelled. Now that he wasn't trying to chase after a tall blond he could really concentrate on the different aromas people were giving off, some a lot worse than others, but all new for Avi. Seeing as he didn't know any of the audience by name he just had to settle for: woman wearing too much make up, man with very old shoes, woman who is pregnant.

Avi wanted to tell Kevin all about what he was finding out but truthfully it was all a bit much for him right now. He wasn't sure he was comfortable smelling previous nights sex coming off people, and knowing Kevin, the older boy would be absolutely fascinated and demand Avi to tell him a fact about every audience member.

Instead, Avi kept quiet about what he was experiencing and mentally blocked out the advanced senses, something he was extremely grateful he was able to do otherwise it most likely would have driven him crazy.

The chatter inside the tent was quite intense as everybody voiced their thoughts about what they were going to witness that night. Avi had a pretty could idea of the people they were going to see, but as far as incorporating it into a show, he had no idea.

Just as the chatting grew to max volume, there was a loud ferocious roar, like a lion's, that shocked the whole audience into shutting up. Avi figured it was coming from the guy he met earlier who could imitate any sound, unless the circus actually had a real lion hidden somewhere.

Avi also noticed Scott's stance change, as presumably his role switched from that of security guard to crowd control.

The roar continued for ages and ages - the owner must have had lungs of steel - and was getting louder and louder, and the last lights flicked out one by one until the tent was left in pitch black. Avi began to feel apprehensive, even though he had a better idea than any of the audience members about what they were about to witness.

All of a sudden, the roar stopped and there was silence. Avi's ears were ringing, the roar along with the stress of the day and the late hour, bringing on a brief wave of dizziness. Then he recovered and sat up in his seat the moment Lucian's very recognisable voice echoed around the tent, while somewhere high up in the scaffolding, one of the child travellers switched on a green light and the centre stage lit up looking all eerie but empty. Lucian was obviously stood out of view.

"If you go down to the woods today, you'd better not go alone," the man had begun singing in a creepy tone.

"It's lovely down in the woods today, but it's safer to stay at home."

Avi's eyes darted about trying to locate the man but he was too well hidden.

"For every person has a fear, and I'm proud to say that you'll find your's here," the creepy voice continued to sing the twisted nursery rhyme.

"Because today's the day these woods become a circus."

The 's' of the final word hung in the air, creating a hissing sound. The light switched off and they were plunged into darkness again.

And that's when it began. The screaming.

From their seats away from the audience it was unclear what was going on at first. Whatever was happening to the audience was not affecting them.

Avi squinted into the darkness and was able to see a number of small, dark, leggy creatures scuttling all over everybody. Spiders. There were spiders everywhere. People were jumping up and shaking themselves down, some were stamping their feet trying to squash the intruders, and a few were simply laughing at the others panicking.

Avi had no fear of spiders; he'd kept many trapped under a glass in his old foster homes, the closest he'd ever get to owning a pet, and wouldn't have minded if he was being jumped on by the eight-legged beasts.

He craned his neck forward, grinning widely as the audience grew more panicked and people's spider dances got more extravagant. Even Kevin had begun laughing quietly.

Then, all of a sudden the lights went up. Every single available one, so the whole tent was brightly lit. And there, in the middle of the ring, center stage if you like, was Lucian.

"Spiders. Ah, such a common fear, arachnophobia," he observed thoughtfully, before snapping his fingers and, just like that, the spiders began exploding. An unassuming wooden door in the canvas had randomly appeared, handleless, much like the one to Lucian's office.

"A truly terrifying way to start the show, if they were in fact real," the ring leader spoke calmly.

Panic slowly descended into confusion as more spiders popped into a cloud of grey dust. Now that the lights were up it was clear that these were not real spiders, they were far too plain and not detailed enough to pass for a living creature, but in the dark they had done the trick.

As people started to settle down once more, Lucian announced a lady called Jane, informing everyone that she had the ability to control and manipulate ash. Now Avi had visual on the lady he could in fact recall her from earlier, although when he and Kevin had met her she'd only created a few tiny ash flowers for them. What she'd just done right now was on another level entirely!

She left to rapturous applause and a few boo's. At least no one had passed out during that little performance.

Avi smiled as one of the last spiders scuttled his way before exploding into a puff of black ash.

_Now that's an ability_ _I_ _wouldn’t mind having!_

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls over the age of sixteen," Lucian began addressing the audience in a perfect and well practiced announcer voice. "I would like to welcome you to Circo Di Freak, home of the world's most remarkable human beings!"

He gave the audience some more time to calm down before launching into a prepared speech about their back story.

"We are an ancient circus," he proclaimed loudly and proudly. "Although this circus is only thirteen years old, if you include previous incarnations of it then we has been around for five hundred years, bringing the grotesque to generation after generation. Our lineup has changed many times, but never our aim, which is to astound and terrify you! We present acts both frightening and bizarre, acts you can find nowhere else in the world."

"Those who are easily scared should leave now," he warned. "I'm sure there are people who came tonight thinking this was a joke. Maybe they thought our freaks would be people in masks, or harmless misfits. This is not so! Every act you see tonight is real. Each performer is unique. And none are harmless."

With his speech over and done with, Lucian left and two women - they looked to be related - dressed in tight fitting silver cat-suits took his place. They then performed an act where they elongated their arms until they were five times the normal length and as such, extra springy and flexible. Avi watched in awe as they used their long arms as a kind of swing rope, wrapping each one around the scaffolding, enabling them to move as if they were on a trapeze. It was a nice relaxed start to the show if you didn't count the spiders.

Afterwards Seamus came on for some audience participation, inviting the fastest person up to face him on an obstacle course; he of course would be doing it all on his hands and promised if anyone saw either foot touch the floor, then he would be automatically disqualified. Having witnessed first hand just how fast the Irish man was on his hands, Avi had no doubt that there would be only one clear winner.

A cocky young man in the front row accepted the challenge and confidently leapt into the ring. Seamus greeted him cheerfully and offered the man a shoe to shake. They then took their marks and the guy who had been roaring earlier came back on to imitate the sound of gun shot to start the race.

Immediately the sound in the tent grew once more, cheering on both sides but mainly for Seamus. Even Avi at one point found himself yelling out a "Go on!". The guy made it look too easy, he was onto the second obstacle before the other man was halfway through the first. He scaled a five foot wall simply by bending and springing up on his arms, performing an elaborate somersault before landing perfectly on the other side.

"Seamus! Seamus! Seamus!" By the end the audience was fully on his side, and Avi was on his feet as the man reached the final and most tricky looking obstacle. It was one of those nets that you had to crawl under, only about half a foot above the ground, easy enough but not when your feet weren't allowed to touch the floor.

However it turned out there was a simple solution to this dilemma. As Seamus approached the net - by now his opponent had given up and was cheering him on also - he bent his elbows and balanced his body so it was lying almost horizontal to the floor and, to the cries of astonishment from the crowd, began to shuffle under the net without any body part except for his hands touching the ground once.

Once victory was secured the man leapt to his feet, surprising Avi as that was the first time he'd seen him the right way up, and walked normally, maybe even limped, off the stage to thunderous clapping.

Next there was another ensemble performance and Avi got the idea that the show was organised so the more interesting individuals, like running on hands man, were sandwiched between the equally strange but maybe not as jaw dropping acts, such as the guy who could make the hair on his head dance and curl into different shapes. Therefore the show would run well and keep the audience on their toes.

Avi certainly was in to it already.  _Kirstie sure wasn't lying when she said it'd be amazing._

Miss Evie was the next solo performer and she did her eye throwing act. Mitch hadn't been lying either when he'd said they were like bullets. She had five objects lined up about twenty paces away from her, with a large crash mat behind them. A teddy bear, can, wine bottle, TV and finally a suit of armour were her targets.

Without a word spoken, the petite woman reached up and plucked her right eye from it's proper place in her head. There was a kind of sickly popping sound as she pulled the eye from the socket, in plain view for everyone to see. Left behind was just an empty hole and a few loose blood vessels.

By now the audience had become slightly accustomed to freaky ad downright disgusting, but this latest act had even the toughest of them letting out cries of sickened horror.

Ignoring the crowd, Miss Evie lined up and aimed down sight at the helpless bear. She held the eye like one might hold a dart, bringing it up to her ear and moving her hand back and forth a bit before launching the body part in new fluid motion. It moved so quick that even Avi and his new highly trained eyes failed to keep track of it until the eye hit the bear square in the face, sending his head sailing off and releasing stuffing into the air, before sticking firmly into the crash mat behind; just a single eye watching them eerily from it's new home.

Disgusting eye socket now a thing of the past, the crowd were immediately hyped up again by this performance of incredible accuracy. Still without a word being spoken, the one eyed woman was handed that same eye back by one of the stage hands and lined up in front of the next target.

She didn't miss once. The can went flying, the wine bottle shattered into a thousand shards and the TV screen cracked into a spiderweb pattern.

For the grand finale of her act Miss Evie shocked everyone into silence again by removing her other eye, rendering herself completely blind, the only indication she had of where to throw being the direction the stage hands faced her in.

Avi held his breath along with everybody else as the woman took aim with both eyes.

 _Surely this is impossible,_ Avi thought as he watched her go through the same process of preparation.  _Surely this is some kind of trick._

You could have heard a pin drop as the woman brought both hands back a final time before releasing both eyes. That only lasted five seconds though as the whole crowd leapt to their feet, clapping as loudly as they could.

Avi stood too, nearly hitting his forehead on the scaffolding, shaking his head in wonder. Not only had Miss Evie hit the suit of armour while blind, but she had aimed it perfectly, with just the right amount of force, so the armour now had gained her eyes in the exact spot where they should be.

"I never knew how much I wanted to see a suit of armour with eyes until now!" Kevin shouted to him above the  noise.

Avi had to agree.  _It's incredible. It simply is incredible._

Many more incredible acts followed, including a double act of a man who acted as a human voodoo doll and a man who could feel no pain and regrow his fingers, toes and ears. That was probably the most disgusting act of the first half but also one of the most entertaining as the two guys somehow managed to turn it into a comedy act that had the audience, and Kevin and Avi, laughing.

To end the of the first half Harold came out and ate...well, basically everything while Tammy played and jovial tune on her ribs.

A stage hand came out with two carts full of food: cakes, fries, hamburgers, packets of candy and heads of cabbage. There was stuff there that Avi hadn't even seen before, never mind tasted!

"Delicious" Harold said, pointing to a huge clock being lowered by ropes from above. It stopped about ten feet above his head. "How long do you think it will take me to eat all this?" he asked, pointing to the food. "There will be a prize for the person who guesses closest."

"An hour!" One man shouted out.

"Three weeks!" Was another guess from a young woman.

"One day, three hours and forty five minutes," an older guy in glasses called out.

Soon everybody was calling out. Avi said an hour and three minutes. Kevin said twenty-nine minutes. The lowest guess was seventeen minutes.

When the crowd were finished guessing Harold gave Tammy the cue to start playing a countdown tune on her ribs, and the Canadian began his monstrosity of a feast.

He ate like the wind. His arms moved so fast, you could hardly see them. His mouth didn't seem to close at all. He shoveled food in - if you could call it food, swallowed, and moved on.

Everybody was amazed. Kevin complained it was making him feel sick as they watched. Some people actually were sick! 

_Strange. Out of_ _everything_ _you_ _could_ _throw up at, it's the guy eating a lot of food._

Although he had to admit that watching the guy eat at such a rate was not the most pleasant feeling in the world. Finally, Harold scoffed the last bun and the clock above his head stopped ticking, while Tammy went back to playing a bouncy tune.

Four minutes and fifty-six seconds! He'd eaten all that food in less than five minutes! Avi could hardly believe it. It didn't seem possible, even for a man who had chewed spoons in front of him earlier.

"That was nice," Harold said, "but I could have used more dessert."

While the crowd clapped and laughed, the stage hands rolled the carts away and brought out a new one, packed with glass statues and forks and spoons and bits of metal junk.

"Before I begin," Harold said, "I must warn you not to try this at home! I can eat things that would choke and kill normal people. Do not try to copy me! If you do, you may die."

 _No shit dude._ Avi wondered if anyone had ever been stupid enough to try that.

He began eating again. He started with a couple of nuts and bolts, which he sucked down without blinking. After a few handfuls he gave his big round stomach a shake and you could hear the noise of the metal inside.  
His stomach heaved and he spat the nuts and bolts back out. If there had only been one or two, Avi might have thought he was keeping them under his tongue or at the sides of his cheeks, but not even Harold's mouth was big enough to hold that number.

Next, he ate the glass statues. He crunched the glass up into small pieces before swallowing it with a drink of water. Then he ate the spoons and forks. He twisted them up into circles with his hands, popped them into his mouth, and let them slide down. He said his teeth weren't strong enough to tear all the way through metal.

After that, he swallowed a long metal chain, then paused to catch his breath. His stomach began rumbling and shaking. Avi didn't know what was going on, until the man gave a heave and the top of the chain came out of his mouth.

As the chain came out, it was clear to see that the spoons and forks were wrapped around it. He had managed to poke the chain through the hoops inside his stomach. It was unbelievable, even more impressive than the spoon trick from earlier.

After that Avi didn't think it was possible for someone to top that performance. Oh how wrong he was.


	11. Shows Pt. 2

During the interval some of the non-performing freaks came round selling souvenirs, including the slobbering pups who actually got a lot of attention, and even a few "oh, they're so cute" and "aww bless them". Some of the stuff they were selling was not half bad; like mini chocolate models of the stuff Harold had been eating and little bouncy ball eyes.

"There will be more novelties later," Lucian announced from center stage, "so don't spend all your money right away."

In the short break Avi could hear individual conversations from people in the crowd. Some were astounded and blown away by what they had witnessed, whilst others were considering leaving if things got any more gruesome and a few were trying to dissect the show, certain everything was all an elaborate illusion. Also as he was listening Avi let out a low growl he didn't know he was capable of as the pups spotted him on their rounds and began to bound over excitedly. They scurried away quickly after that, tails between their legs.

The second half began with a much bleaker and far more dramatic act. A young black man called Jacob, who had barely said a word upon meeting Avi earlier, could embody the spirits of his ancestors who had been slaves back in Georgia.

What followed was a horrific, jaw dropping and frankly tear jerking portrayal of his ancestors being taken from their homelands, placed on cramped and over crowded ships and put to work in the fields. Jacob's voice changed for each person, even switching to a woman's at one point.

Avi had seen a lot in his short life. Been through a lot and had a lot of pain inflicted upon him. But this simple display of what slavery had done to people was a sharp reminder that things were a hell of a lot better for him than that of Jacob's ancestors.

 _How could human beings be so cruel to one another?_  Was Avi's one thought as Jacob embodied someone who was being mercilessly whipped for disobedience. He winced every time the man's body lurched from the lashings, and he could hear Kevin sniffing and feel the older boy shaking.

By the end of that performance there was not a dry eye left in the whole crowd. Blinking away the dampness from his own eyes, Avi noticed Scott was in a state of intense focus, staring at a section of the audience who had been particularly distressed by that last act. As the blond stared at them Avi could visibly see them relax and calm from hyperventilating to understandable sadness.

"What are you doing to them?" He whispered to the boy.

"I'm just letting them know I'm here," Scott simply replied and Avi left him to it.

Before he left the ring Jacob apologised for any distress he may have caused anyone and explained it wasn't done out of spite, merely his way of reminding people of the atrocities committed in the past and to encourage them to make sure nothing like it could ever happen again. He must have left the stage to the loudest applause that night.

After another ensemble act the lights dipped down again and everyone sat in hushed silence, waiting in apprehension for what they assumed was going to be some jump scare. Nothing happened for almost too long, and people began to get restless wondering if something had gone wrong or if the show had ended and they weren't being told.

Suddenly a man cried out: "There's something on the floor!"

There was a small commotion near him as others tried to look under their own chairs.

"It's by my feet!" A teenaged boy shouted from the other side of the tent.

There was silence again as people sat nervously in their seats, waiting to see if it was them who was going to be surprised next. There was another scream that came from the center of the seats and a lady jumped on her chair.

Avi already had a strong suspicion of who this stealth performer might be and the little cackle and a voice calling out: "Never mind little old me. I'm merely passing through," was enough to confirm it.

_So snake boy makes his entrance at last._

From the amount Mitch had prattled on about his grand performance, Avi had been expecting some sort of spectacularly loud and over the top entrance. Not this skulking in the shadows business.

Avi watched the crowd intently as cries of "Where is it?" and "What was that?" could be heard, followed by that person leaping out of their seat. People were rising and falling, creating a ripple effect.

Mitch was quiet for the time being, obviously taking his time to build up his fear factor until...

"Hey! It took something from my bag!" A blonde woman shouted.

"These are some nice sun glasses." The little snake had moved on from spooking to theft.

"I'll have this too thank you." He laughed as a man had his bag nicked from underneath him.

"Where am I?" He hissed, voice reverberating around the tent. "What am I?" By now a few people were reaching down to try and catch the intruder. "Close!" The boy let out a high pitched giggle.

Another man nearly fell over trying to catch the boy at his feet. "You'll have to try harder than that," Mitch gloated.

"Because." There was another cry as he stole someone's shoes straight off their feet.

"I'm." A woman was incredibly freaked out as the watch on her wrist disappeared into thin air.

"Always where you least expect me." The center green light turned on again to reveal the small teen sitting in the middle on the ring, surrounded by all his stolen goods and looking incredibly pleased with himself.

At first Avi was confused. This boy was definitely Mitch, yet there was something not right about him.  _The scales! His scales are different!_  Before it had only been through intense focus on the boy's skin that you could make out the tiny emerald scales Mitch had in the place of skin. Now though, he was practically shimmering under the spotlight, the nickname Snake Boy had a whole new meaning.

Avi realised after a while that it was in fact a costume giving Mitch his extra scaly aesthetic, and not his actual skin. The boy was wearing a skin tight costume, from neck to toe, invisible if you weren't looking out for it. On top of that the only piece of clothing as a pair of just as tight shorts. Avi also noticed that those fangs of his were fully out.

The boy laughed some more as the crowd stared in wonder at him, and held up the items, dangling them in the air in a taunting fashion. "You what them? Come and get them!" He challenged, before pointing to a huge guy in the front row. "You Sir, with the hat," he announced, springing to his feet. "Are you willing to partake in a little game of cat and snake in order to win back everyone's possessions?"

The guy confidently stepped into the ring and sized up against the boy. It was almost comical, the height difference. You'd probably need four of Mitch, stood next to each other and on top of one another, to make it an equal fight.

This guy's face reminded Avi of himself as the snake boy danced around him, explaining what he had to do. "The rules are simple," he sang out happily, holding up a red circle in one hand. "You manage to stick one of this sticky thing on me and you win."

Just to prove there was no trickery going on here Mitch allowed the guy to test it out on him a few times before the game started. The circle stuck to Mitch like it was magnetic, almost as if it were drawn to him. The game should have been an easy win for the big guy. Should have been.

As it happened the only time the guy looked like winning was when he lunged towards Mitch before the boy had even said go. "Oh we like to play dirty do we?" Mitch queried as he simply side stepped out of the way. "Alright, two can play at that game." He grinned manically, canines shining under the lights.

What followed next was a fight like no other. Every time the guy tried to get anywhere near Mitch, the boy would just duck and weave out of the way, always leaving it until the last possible second before he fluidly slipped behind the guy and shoved him over.

From his view, and now that he wasn't the butt of the joke, Avi could truly appreciate just how flexible the boy was. His body moved in a way it had no right in moving. For certain moves, like when he would suddenly snake between the guy's legs, it looked like he needed to dislocate at least eight bones in order to achieve it.

_He's good. I'll give him that._

For a while the game of cat and snake just consisted of Mitch dodging his increasingly frustrated opponent around the ring, the audience laughter growing all the time at the David verses Goliath match.

Then Mitch upped his game. At one point the guy had been aiming a right hook at the boy's face and the next moment he had been spinning around in confusion, the pair of stolen sunglasses on his face.

Avi blinked in surprise.  _Okay that was pretty awesome!_

Mitch gasped dramatically, pointing to the shades with his mouth wide open. "How Sir, did you manage to do that?"

And so it occurred that the audience were falling about in their seats in hysterics after the bag and watch ended up on the confused man as well, each object seemingly being conjured up out of thin air by Mitch and placed on his opponent every time he tried to strike the small teen.

"Wow! You're so good at this!" Mitch complimented the guy, who by now looked a bit delirious, aiming a clumsy kick out at the boy only to find his shoe replaced with one of the nicked ones.

"Oh, there's a shoe!" Mitch cried out happily, holding up the new piece of footwear in his hands "And there's another one," he said as the man repeated the same action, only to find his other shoe replaced.

It was slight of hand and misdirection at the highest level. Even Avi had to grin as the audience got to their feet in applause while Mitch took multiple bows, all the stolen goods now returned to one very confused gentleman.

_Boy may be annoying, but there's no doubt he's just as amazing as the other acts._

Mitch wouldn't have been out of place at a magic show, he definitely knew how to work a crowd. However he wasn't done quite yet, for as his opponent went to return to his seat, Mitch held out an arm to halt him.

"I really ought to punish you for being such a naughty boy at the start," he hissed, licking his pointed teeth purposefully. The audience shuddered as one as Mitch pulled himself up on the guy's shoulders and brought his teeth up to the bare neck, acting like he was going to bite him vampire style. The man was completely frozen, like he had been hypnotised by the boy's tones.

Just as Mitch went to clamp his mouth shut there was a yell from backstage and a man came charging out. Avi's eyes widened in surprise. It was Ricky. And he was missing an arm.

"The Croc man!" he cried out in fear. "The Croc man is coming!"

There was a brief pause while the crowd watched him, stunned by this turn of events, before the Croc man himself lunged out of the darkness behind the canvas and chomped at Ricky's leg, completely tearing the limb off from the calf downwards.

As you would expect, the audience began screaming once more, a few running for the doors only to find them locked in.

Mitch was straight away in action-man mode. "Get back to your seat!" he ordered the man he had been planning to bite a moment ago, shoving him out of the way before sprinting towards Ricky and tackling him to the side just as the croc went to take another mouthful out of him, while at the same time taking the opportunity to reach for the abandoned limb still hanging in it's mouth.

"Over here boy," he enticed the half man half croc away from his first victim and lead him out to center stage. The beast actually moved fairly slowly on all four human limbs, his animal head definitely weighing him down at the front as he lumbered after the boy.

 _How convenient_ , Avi thought, as Mitch just happened to stop his retreat where everyone could get the best view. He hadn't bought that anyone was in any danger for a second, especially since he knew Ricky rather enjoyed sawing his own limbs off anyway.

They danced around each other, each move so precise you would think it was practiced, although only one out of the two of them had any idea they were performing. Zooming in on the croc's razor sharp teeth, Avi spotted a small, thin, transparent wire, almost like a spider's thread, tied around the upper and lower part of the Croc man's jaw, and trailing off to the backstage area. He smiled to himself, proud for having worked out that little bit of trickery. Another bit of proof no one was in any real danger; someone was obviously making sure the croc wouldn't be allowed to take a bite out of anyone who wasn't Ricky. Still, it was thrilling to watch.

He had to admit he was a little caught off guard when Mitch tripped dramatically over the swishing tail and went flying to the ring side. He wouldn't have thought the boy would have liked to have himself messing up as part of the show.

Quite the contrary, still in full actor's mode, the teen raised in hands in the air, crying out to the heavens. "Oh no! Who dares help us now?"

Avi was midway through rolling his eyes when there was a flutter from high up. And a flash of blue and purple. He gazed up searching for the newest performer and his mouth dropped open.

It was Kirstie...and she was finally showing her true form! Her hidden ability that she had been teasing Kevin and Avi about the whole day was finally revealed, and boy was it worth the wait.

_She has wings. She has fucking wings!_

Not feathered like a birds, but delicate and see through like a butterfly's, with a few stands of green and silver running through them. From so high up she seemed as if she could actually be a kind of fairy and a part of Avi wanted to scoop her up in his hands, like one might admire a real butterfly. He found that he was having to remind himself o breath; that act suddenly no longer second nature as he was presented with some oasis of beauty a creator with a mind more pure than his had conjured up.

As Kirstie glided elegantly for scaffold to scaffold it was like she froze in mid-air, and time slowed down as he took in every detail of her beauty. Every curve of her body. Every slight sparkle in those wings, every lock of cascading gold hair; he was mesmerised by them all. Even the dress she had been working on when they had first met fitted her perfectly, flowing out behind her, only adding to the whole wondrous aesthetic.

This wasn't just a freaky ability, this was the closest thing to flying! Visually, there was nothing more amazing. Each time she was airborne she performed an incredible stunt; twists, rolls, flips, each time her wings took on a new shapely form, wether is was for balance or show Avi couldn't be sure. All he knew was that those delicate, beating wings were the most incredible thing in the universe.

_How could she have kept those hidden?_

The audience ducked as she glided above their heads, leaving behind a trail of glitter so the people below were left sparkling. The noises they made this time were not ones of horror or disgust; it was childish delight at some childhood dream coming true before their very eyes. The fear of the Croc man momentarily forgotten, replaced by pure joy.

At one point in her display the girl landed just above where the three were sitting and gave Avi a wink. He grinned back automatically, so wide that his cheeks ached, and gazed after her eagerly as she finally swooped down towards the enemy, who had been slowly making his way towards a cowering Mitch, who for no explained reason apparently couldn't just stand up and walk away; instead he was just making a fool of himself by rolling about on the floor.

Landing in between the two and instantly leaping into the air again aimed at the croc, she began to spin around him, he wings propelling her faster and faster until she was just a blur; a flurry of color and beauty, enveloping the Croc man into a kind of rainbow twister, the both of them disappearing in a cloud of glitter and dust.

When she eventually came to a stand still the Croc man no longer looked anywhere near as threatening, with all out his scales completely covered in a silvery dust. Kirstie on the other hand, looked exactly the same, that little exercise barely causing her to break out a sweat.

Pointing authoritatively to the backstage door she shouted, "Be gone!" ordering the croc to leave them be and, after a moments hesitation, the beast turned around and staggered off back to where he came from, slightly dazed but no worse for wear. It appeared Kirstie's little act had turned him from a ferocious monster into an obedient reptile.

Actually, Avi had seen the small wires being tugged slightly and could smell some sort of cooked meat wafting through the canvas. No doubt Mr Croc was leaving for his dinner rather than staying in the limelight only to have more glitter thrown over him. Still, he could appreciate the storyline and the audience seemed to buy into it, cheering enthusiastically for the girl as she drifted over to Mitch. Avi frowned as a few of the guys sent wolf whistles Kirstie's way.

Mitch to his credit also stayed true to character, putting a hand on his forehead and leaning back dramatically from his seat on the floor. "My oh my! A true angel has come to rescue me," he fawned over the girl, wrapping her up in a hug.

"Shut up!" Kirstie pushed the small boy away in mock disgust, generating more laughter from the crowd, and Avi felt a bit too much happiness from that little interaction.

His smugness vanished however at Mitch's next line, as the boy smiled dopily into the audience and said, "I do believe I'm in love," before the lights cut out and the two vanished into the blackness to yet more laughter and cheers.

 _Well that's a blatant lie, unless you're talking about him,_  Avi grumbled in his head, glancing towards Scott.  _Wait, why am I getting so annoyed about that?_

Thankfully his attention was brought back to the show when another spotlight flicked on and Ricky was shown standing up with a leg and arm tucked under his still attached arm.

_Oops, I forgot about you. Glad to see you're still alive._

"Hmm," the decapitated man squashed his missing arm and leg back into position, and there was a hissing sound as flesh moulded itself to flesh again, until they looked good as new. "Well that was fun," he observed and strolled off merrily to more applause.

Avi wasn't even allowed a brief respite to reflect on Kirstie's act, as the moment the ring was empty a small bird flew into the tent, flying in circles for a bit before it was suddenly shot down, it's feathers flying everywhere as it fell to the floor dead.

_What the...?_

A woman in a red cloak entered the ring.

She reached down and picked up the dead creature, jet black hair falling loose.

She breathed into her hands.

She opened up her hands...

...And out flew the bird, flying around as happy as it could be for something that had a massive bullet wound in it a moment prior. People uttered sounds of shock and disbelief, a few made the sign of a cross on their chest. Avi genuinely didn't know what he thought about that act either. Having freaky abilities was one thing, but that was bringing something back from  _the dead_ , and he knew from horror movies that that never worked out well.

What was worse though, and what was sending shivers down his spine and awakening that feral feeling inside him once more was the woman herself.  _Bad_ , his senses told him.  _Bad_. He didn't know how but he knew this woman was bad. It was like he could smell evil evaporating off her. She smelt rotten. She smelt of decay. Avi glanced around to see if anyone else had taken note of the stench coming off this woman, but everybody seemed to be watching her as normal. There was nobody holding their noses or looking like they were going to throw up.

As the lady spun around with her arms widespread in the process of bowing to the applause - her act was a very short one - her black eyes met with Avi's...and that's what did it for him. The moment their eyes locked any last bit of self control he had left sprinted away in terror, that same primal urge from earlier taking over.

Grabbing his friend by the arm he whispered urgently, "Kevin, we're getting out of here. Now."

Kevin turned to him in confusion. "Wha-?" He was cut off by Avi clamping a hand over his mouth, and urgently motioning that they needed to leave.

Scott was still concentrating on the audience. Avi didn't know what the guy's hearing was like but decided if they were quiet enough the blond wouldn't realise they were gone until he tried talking to them. Giving Kevin no choice but to follow him as he dragged the boy out the way they came, Avi pushed his friend in front of him and began to march them both through the backstage crowds, keeping their heads down. If they were lucky enough no one would pay them too much attention when they were all bust themselves.

"Avi!" Kevin tried to turn around, annoyed by the younger boy's unexplained marching orders. "Dude just calm down! What's going on?" He glared at him as Avi harshly shushed him.

Avi wanted to explain. He really did. But right now he was running on pure instincts and those instincts were telling him to get as far away as possible as quickly as he could. There was no time to think about the contract they had signed or the people they had met; not Mitch, Scott, not even Kirstie. Run. That was all. "Just keep moving," Avi demanded, shoving Kevin forward. "Anyone so much as shouts at us, make a break for it."

Wether it was from being stunned into obedience or him being able to identify the desperation in Avi's voice; for once Kevin didn't question him.


	12. Runaways

Even once they were out of the backstage area and into the open air Avi still had no control over his primal need to get as far away as possible from that woman. "Avi," Kevin called after him. No response, he just carried on moving, head down, shoulders hunched, no looking back. "Avi stop," Kevin tried again. "Avi!" His pleas had no impact. There was simply no reasoning with the younger boy.

Past the empty tents and through the deserted fields, the two carried on at a brisk marching pace, Avi determined to find some other civilisation as soon as possible and Kevin anxious to just figure out what the hell had gotten into his friend.

There were a number of cars parked up in another field, presumably owned by the audience members, and the temptation to hot-wire one of them was very tempting for Avi, but then again he didn't really want the cops  _and_  a bunch of freaks on their tail, so he decided taking the legal escape route and walking or using public transport was their best option. However that was easier said than done when they were apparently in the middle of nowhere.

Following the tire tracks made in the ground and using his sharp eyes, he was able to find a way through the darkness to a nearby road. Actually the narrow strip or crumbling tarmac could barely pass for a road but it was a route leading somewhere. That was all that mattered. There was a sloping valley on one side and in the distance Avi thought he could maybe make out a few dots of lights. They could very well be their own town. Whatever, it was something other than the middle of nowhere.

Down the road he set off, the foreign entity inside him still having overall control of his actions. He didn't mind as much now though. Earlier, when it been encouraging him to fight Mitch he had been scared, intimidated by it even, but now it was almost like a comfort to know there was some very angry and strong force within him.

"Please stop." Kevin had started up his pleas again and this time there was a small break through. It seemed the further Avi got away from the circus the more he was able to calm down and return to his normal self. Jogging up to him, Kevin reached out and managed to grab his arm. "Take a breather," he instructed and Avi finally halted in his march, turning to face the other boy in the middle of the road. 

It was pitch black out here and Avi's eyes had to adjust to use the light from the moon in order to make out Kevin's facial features. Thankfully it was a fairly cloudless night although the dense row of trees on one side of the road didn't really help with the lighting. He doubted the other boy could see anything at all and suddenly felt bad for running off ahead in the dark. Kevin wasn't angry though, more concerned for his sanity right now. Managing to feel his way to both of Avi's shoulders, Kevin queried again: "Tell me what's going on."

Taking a few deep breaths himself Avi looked his friend in the eyes, wanting to show his earnestness even though Kevin couldn't actually see his own irises. "That woman...she was...there was something off about her."

He saw the dark of Kevin's eyebrows dip into a frown. "Off? What, like rotten egg off?"

"I'm not joking around Kevin," Avi growled. He didn't like the fact that the boy didn't seem to understand how serious he was being. Okay, maybe what he was saying was slightly crazy, but the whole day in general had been one crazy fucking mess, this shouldn't be anything new.

The older boy huffed, Avi felt his hair move from the air. "Clearly."

 _Alright that's enough with the chit chat._  "C'mon," he urged, taking Kevin by the elbow this time in order to lead him. "We've gotta get going. Lilac eyes isn't going to be unaware of our absence for too long. They might already be after us."

Kevin shuffled along clumsily behind him, following for the time being, albeit a lot slower than Avi would have preferred. "Why do I feel like we're the bad guys here?" he asked.

"Well it's them against us, isn't it?" Avi shot back. For him there was always a sure enemy, someone who had it out for him, be it foster carers, social workers or dumb bosses, and right now it was those lot; the ones who could read minds, saw off limbs and become half snake. 

"No, not really dude." Kevin on the other hand felt the exact opposite, just like always. He always assumed everybody was good until proven otherwise.  _And even then he says they're just misunderstood._  "We can't just run off, we don't even know where we are," he tried to reason.

"So we just walk 'til we find a bus stop or something," Avi told him. "Anyone asks, just say you've got a skin condition or something," he muttered about Kevin's wooden appearance. And when they found the nearest town they could head to a clothing store and by him clothes so he was almost completely hidden. And then they could find some qualified scientist or surgeon who could make him look normal again. Yeah, they'd work something out. Act first, think later, that was the mantra Avi had always abided by and so far he was still alive so he decided it worked well enough.

"What skin condition? Treebarkitis?" Kevin was clearly not on the same wavelength as him.

"You're not taking me seriously."

"Sorry but you need to give me some more answers dude. I didn't just sign a contract committing me to a life at the circus only to run off the same day. I'm not about to walk back out into a world that isn't going to look upon my new form kindly."

 _Always a stickler for the rules._  Avi huffed as he was ground to halt by Kevin planting his feet firmly on the spot. It seemed he was going to have to do a bit more talking before they could get moving. "I...I get these feelings...or smells," he began, not really knowing how to describe what he had experienced. "I can smell stuff from people and it...like  _you_ ," he pointed at Kevin. " _You_  smell a certain way, and so does Scott and so did everyone in that tent."

There was a pause. "Interesting..." Kevin said slowly.  _Really? That's all you have to say?_  Avi could already hear Kevin's brain working overtime to try and figure out the science behind Avi's ability and knew that they could be stuck here forever if he gave him time to mull it over. Kevin was the exact opposite to him on that front; he could spend so long thinking something through, that it became to late to actually act. That's why he needed Avi with him, to keep reminding him the world didn't pause just because he was. 

He gave Kevin's shoulder a shake to make sure he was still paying attention. "And that woman, who did that zombie bird trick, she was," Avi shivered, "I just know she was bad." He sighed once more. "I'm sorry, I can't explain it. I just knew."

"Alright," Kevin replied after another pause. "Alright that's a start. But Avi we– Are you listening to me Avi?"

No. He had been but then he'd felt it, a feeling inside his head, a kind of tingling sensation. He could feel something or someone reach out to him, like they were trying to connect. No matter how friendly they were Avi just saw it as an invasion of privacy and knew who the culprit was instantly. 

"Fuck off Scott!" he shouted into the darkness.

"What?" Kevin exclaimed, astounded.

"He knows," Avi simply said.

Staggering around and shaking his head every now and then, he could feel the boy's presence swirling around in his mind, like an inquisitive dog, sniffing about in places it had no right being. He covered his ears with his hands, as if that were going to do any good. "Get out of my fucking head Scott!" he yelled. Surprisingly, after a few seconds he felt the feeling vanish, leaving behind only a vague warmth in the back of his head.  _Well at least some people know when to listen._

He didn't need to be able to see Kevin clearly to know that he had an amused expression on his face, as he pondered: "The boy's probably wondering where his charges ran off to."

"And I'm not giving him a chance to find out."

"Running's not the answer Avi."  _Here he goes again_. "If you think this woman's bad then we should let the others know. Who knows, maybe they're in danger."

Avi scoffed at that.  _Those lot in danger?_  Those lot were the danger, no matter how much they tried to include Avi and Kevin with them, they definitely didn't belong in that little insane group. They were just two guys straight out of the system. Their future was meant to be laid out for them already; a minimal paying job, followed by having kids at a young age, followed by those kids ending up in the system also because he was such a bad parent was Avi's future.

And Kevin...Kevin was supposed to be the guy who was going to beat the system. He was going to get a great job with that talented mind of his, and get married and raise a wonderful family, do the living for the both of them. He wasn't supposed to be turned into whatever the fuck he was and get trapped in some freak show. Avi reminded his friend of this. "Didn't you just watch the same show as me? They're all freaks Kevin."

The longer they were in the dark, the greater his eyes were able to adjust and by now he could make out the other boy quite clearly when he was stood directly in front of him, and his face was one of doubt. "Yeah," he drawled, "you sure looked creeped out when Kirstie showed up."  _You little..._ He had just been caught up in the emotion of the show. He could graciously admit the show was amazing, like nothing he'd ever seen or probably will see ever again, and she was definitely his favourite act. But she was not a reason to stay and get involved in the madness.

Oblivious to the glare being sent his way, Kevin tutted and continued: "And in case you've forgotten, it's not them and us...it's just us. We're like them. We're different Avi. This whole sensing someone's bad is proof of that."

 _We are not like them._ Again, Kevin was always far too trusting of strangers. True, a lot of the people he had met today were perfectly charming and welcoming individuals, people who would fit in fine in a normal society if it weren't for the way they looked. Out of the three they had spent the most time with, he could happily say that he wouldn't lose sleep over never seeing, thinking or hearing of snake boy again. Scott was sweet enough if a little out of it at times, he couldn't begin to understand the extent of his abilities but the blond boy was harmless enough. And Kirstie was... _no, don't think about her. She's nobody, you've known her a day. She means nothing to you. She's just some pretty girl...with wings._

"We need those guys to help us Avi," Kevin tried to persuade him. "And we owe them for saving us earlier. We can't just run off with no explanation, we don't even know what the consequence is for running off!"

Avi rolled his eyes at his friend's concerns. "It was just a scare tactic," he argued. It wasn't like they'd signed in blood or anything.

"Even so, my conscience won't let me leave just like this." Avi wondered what it was like having a conscience bigger than yourself. If he had one like Kevin's he was sure it would have weighed him down by now.

He started backing away, turning his back on his friend. "I'm not going back Kevin," he said firmly. "You go if you wanna but I've made my choice." And with that he began walking down the dark road once more.

"Avi," Kevin still continued to pester him and he finally lost it.

"I do what I want!" he snarled, kicking angrily at the loose stones on the floor, stubbornly refusing to turn back. Kevin's inability to understand what was going on here was getting on his nerves. "I do what's best for me and I'm trying to do what's best for you! I'm trying–"

He was cut off abruptly when he felt a large gust of air and heard the sound of two bodies colliding, hard. Well he was still standing so that meant...

"Kevin?" He span around to find his friend gone. Even though it was pitch black and easy to lose sight of people a few feet away he could sense that the older boy was no longer near him. "Kevin!" There was no reply, just the sound of the trees swaying slightly in the gentle breeze. Then, he heard the snapping of a branch and the shaking over leaves, and spun around just in time to see a dark shape hurtling towards him.

At that moment he had flashbacks to earlier that week - or really day in his mind - of that ominous moon in the sky. He really hand't been having the best of luck lately. He tensed his body ready for whatever opponent was headed towards him, although he thoroughly expected to be coming off worse in this fight.

But no one messed with his Kevin, no matter how annoyed he was with the older boy. Not on his watch.  _Bring it on you fucker._


	13. Chasers

Avi didn't know who he was preparing himself to battle with but one thing for sure was it wasn't anyone like he expected. Before the dark shape even collided with him, he could recognise that scent from earlier; sweet, like flowers blooming on a summers day, fresh and bright and full of life. Kirstie was graceful as ever as she swooped towards him, delicate wings spread wide, the paper thin blades sparking dimly in the darkness.

_Why? Of all the people!_

There was nothing graceful however about how she smacked into Avi full force and sent them both propelling towards a clump of trees at a truly alarming speed. In fact he was very worried that they were both just going to smack straight into one of the trunks but somehow, and much to his relief, Kirstie managed to reposition her wings so their trajectory was angled upwards, sending them at a slightly reduced speed to perch onto a branch.

Both were breathing heavily once they landed, although Kirstie was the only one who had any right to be out of breath seeing as she was the one who had just carted off two fully grown men like it was her day job. No matter his feelings towards her, Avi wanted to scream and shout at the girl for coming after them, he wanted to berate her for the ambush that scared the life out of him; but the moment his eyes adjusted fully once more and he took note of her picture-perfect face again, all previous words of anger vanished from his lips. Still, that didn't mean he wasn't extremely annoyed with her.

"What are you doing here?" Avi growled, his voice coming out tight as he clutched to the bark with his fingers, struggling to shift his body weight as he feared the branch he was sat on wasn't going to hold out much longer.

Kirstie whipped her head around to him, silky hair strands smacking him lightly in the face. She gave him the once over and shook her head in frustration. "What does it look like? Idiot," she said, her words still sounding melodic no matter how angry she also was right now. "Second one coming down Scotty," she called out and then gave him a surprise forceful shove off the branch.

Avi was grateful the fall was brief otherwise he definitely would have embarrassed himself by screaming like a little girl before a pair of strong arms caught him and placed him gently on the ground. He leapt away and spun to face a pair of grinning lunatics - aka snake boy and lilac eyes - the latter of whom had yet to change costume from his performance, giving the illusion that he was still standing shirtless in the cold night.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and an equally warm voice spoke into his ear. "That was different, wasn't it?" As always Kevin managed to find the light in the situation, although as Avi checked to make sure his friend was unharmed he noticed the older boy's eyes were slightly larger than usual, and his breathing had quickened too. No, Avi was not impressed by this little ambush at all.

"I still say you should have let me try to catch him," Mitch squeaked out to the blond boy, oblivious to the glares Avi was sending his way.

Scott shook his head adamantly, his eyes shining out eerily brighter than everything else in the vicinity. "But he might have hurt you," he told him seriously. Mitch merely laughed and slapped him on the arm, something Avi had noticed he was prone to doing.

 _Maybe that's why Scott's so well trained_ , he decided in amusement before clearing his mind of any more dumb thoughts and interrogating the two.

"Why the fuck did you pounce on us?" he questioned through gritted teeth, putting himself between them and Kevin just in case they decided to drag him off again.

"You ran away," Kirstie answered instead, nimbly jumping down to join them just as Mitch had opened his mouth to provide some sort of smart ass answer, and pulling a torch out of Scott's pocket, providing light for those who didn't possess night vision.

"Of course we ran away," Avi stressed. "You really think we were going to stick around in that madhouse?" He pointed in a general direction, although he had lost all bearings of his location. Judging my Mitch's belittling grin he assumed he had pointed completely the wrong way.

"I would like to put forward that my friend's views do not represent that of the two of us."  _Hey! We're meant to be a team._  By all means Kevin was allowed to disagree with him - he definitely had done a few minutes ago - but in private, not in front of these lot.

"Do you hear yourself?" Avi asked his friend, still unable to understand why Kevin felt such loyalty towards them already. Had those extra days he had been conscious discovering his new ability and whatever else really affected him that much? "These lot," he waved his hand at the three, mainly Mitch, "they've brainwashed you," he insisted.

"Last time I checked we didn't have anyone who could do that," Kirstie said calmly, retracting and folding her wings inwards so they were invisible from the front, crossing her arms defiantly in front of her, waiting to hear Avi's argument.

The older teen didn't need any more encouragement than that. "You can't stop me from leaving," he told her. "I don't give a damn if I signed a contract, that don't mean shit."

He heard Mitch sigh and knew the boy was probably rolling his eyes. "I told you girl. We wasting our time with this kid," he said in his usual know-it-all manner, the tone that always made Avi want to tear his hair out. "Just let him be caught by one of the organisations," Mitch carried on. "I'm sure they'd have a lot of fun dissecting this ones brain."

Avi wondered why out of the five of them stood here, they were all looking at him like he was the crazy one.  _At the moment I'm the only sane one!_

He took a step towards the younger teen, aiming to try and intimidate him into keeping his mouth closed for more than five seconds. "Just shut the fuck up you little–"

"Avi!" Kevin tugged at his elbow, concerned Avi was actually going to get physical.

"Guys!" Kirstie called out in annoyance, although it did little to help calm either boy.

Flitting his gaze from Avi to Kevin, Mitch slid over to Kevin's other arm and latched onto it. "I like this one though," he confirmed, leaning his head against the broad shoulder. "Can we keep him?" he asked, batting his eyelids at Kirstie.

Kevin looked down at the small boy. "Can you be serious for one moment please?" he begged, finally getting tired also of the teen's frustrating antics.

"Don't try talking to him Kevin," Avi grunted. Even someone as sensible as the twenty year old wouldn't be able to get a word of sense out of the little snake boy.

_Everything's just a joke to him._

As if to prove his point, Mitch immediately set to bouncing around the two, aiming pretend punches in Avi's direction. "Why?" he sang out. "Kevin here would probably prefer more sophisticated chat than the repetitive monotone bullshit he gets with you." He gave the older boy a sneer. "Oh Kevin!" he cried out, flapping his arms about melodramatically in Avi's face. "We have to run away from the scary bad people Kevin! Listen to me Kevin, I know everything Kevin. I'm always right!"

He finished his little mocking impression by leaping backwards, which was just as well, as Avi had given up on patience and made a lunge at him, a snarl building up in the back of his throat.

"Come over here and say that snake boy," he challenged the teen, who was still just grinning manically from ear to ear at him.

Mitch only wiggled his eyebrows cheekily. "Want me to finish what I started earlier?" he hissed back, flexing his body, ready for a scuffle if Avi offered up one.

The older boy clenched his knuckles, feeling them click one by one. "Gladly." He wouldn't be so outdone by the snake this time. He knew what to expect and whatever other entity he had within him was definitely getting stronger. Plus normal Avi was no novice fighter, heck that had been his reputation as a little kid, the youngster who would send you to A&E if you messed with him or his best friend. Mitch may have had the benefit of being the more experienced in his ability, but at the end of the day he was just a scrawny teen.

_A scrawny teen who deserves having his ego knocked down a peg or two._

"You two are just being stupid now," Kirstie muttered from beside them, utterly unimpressed by their behaviour.

Neither however was willing to back down now, both eyeing each other up, waiting to see who was going to make the first move. However as it turned out, neither did make a first move, as gradually Avi felt a calm sensation wash over him, eliminating a great majority of his anger and annoyance at the teen and also calming his earlier rabid fear. Still not looking away from Mitch, he noticed the younger boy was experiencing similar effects as his muscles relaxed and the light-hearted glint returned to his eyes.

Within a minute the two were over the need to fight and kept the battle limited to sending each other the occasional demeaning glare.

"Are you two quite done yet?" Kirstie asked, now both were a lot calmer. Avi nodded and looked towards her, wondering if she'd had anything to do with ending the fight before it had even started, but then remembering there was someone else present who was the much more likely candidate on that front, despite having not said a word since they had first met up again. Taking in Scott's appearance also, Avi could visibly see the boy looked drained, like he was the one who had just been in a fight.

Avi sent him a grateful look.  _Thanks for that...I guess._  He didn't know if aiming the thought towards the blond would have any effect but Scott jerked his head up and gave him a small smile as he did so, so Avi figured that the sentiment had got through at the very least.

"Relax girl," Mitch drawled, returning to a more relaxed stance next to his boyfriend.  _It still feels weird to think of them as that._  "I was just toying with him."

"I'm cold." Scott simply said and Avi noticed he was still only wearing a white tee and denim shorts, with nothing on his feet, just as he always had been. Not very practical attire for a midnight stroll.

Mitch leaned against his side, linking his small and slender hand with the blond's larger one. "Well if you insist on wearing the same thing everyday babe," he gently pointed out.

Scott shrugged. "It helps."

The small teen wrapped his arms around the other boy, still holding onto his hand. "Yeah well I'm cold too," he remarked. "And I'm the youngest so you're all meant to take care of me! Helpless, weak, innocent!" he cried out.

"Have never been used to describe you," Kirstie told him with a smirk.

"You don't feel cold. You're cold blooded."

"Shh," Mitch slapped the blond's arm again. "Play along dumbo." It didn't surprise Avi that snake boy actually had snake blood.  _He definitely acts cold-hearted whenever he's around me._

"Why did you sneak up and snatch us like that?" Avi asked for the third time, although this time it was more in confusion rather than rage.

Kirstie gave him a soft smile, small rings of light from the torch shining in her eyes, and Avi's breath once again hitched as she gazed at him, an feeling he couldn't identify rising in his chest. "We wanted to make sure you didn't run," she explained. "We wanted to at least talk to you before you charged off into the night." She laughed slightly at the last bit and Avi found himself smirking a little despite everything that had occurred. This girl just had that effect on him.

"And you thought suddenly ambushing us was the best way to achieve that?" he questioned, still at a loss for the three's tactics. "What if I'd hurt you?"

Kirstie laughed again, the melodic tones ringing out in the night.

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Honey, you're not going to be hurting any of us any time soon," she said in amusement, walking over to him and brushing his jacket down of imaginary dust. "In case you hadn't noticed we are pretty adept when it comes to using our abilities."

She looked up and met his eyes. It was strange. Avi had never been a big fan of eye contact, a human interaction that was more intimate than words could ever be, but with Kirstie it just felt...it felt natural.

"This is an old tree." They were interrupted when the boy who would never understand the problems with eye contact stated his observation of a nearby pine he had wandered over too, his hand placed firmly against the rough bark, fingers lightly tapping against it.

"Any good memories in it?" Mitch queried, giving the boy a fond look as he stood mesmerised by the plant life. "You should introduce it to Kevin. Maybe they're distant cousins."

"Can you?" Kevin asked, eyes widening with intrigue as he walked over to a potential new family member.

"No," Scott shook his head with a small grin. "He's just being silly." He titled his head inquisitively at the dark skinned boy. "There is something about you though..." he murmured and Avi could sense his friend's curiosity rising in excitement at the mysterious words.

He sighed. It was clear to him now that for Kevin there was really only one option. "I get it Kevin," he told him. "You want to stay here and I don't have any problem with that." He would miss the boy like hell but was sure his friend would be fine. People at Circo Di Freak were already charmed by his disarming personality and he would have no problem fitting in. Maybe Avi was just going crazy and that woman was a perfectly nice lady, but he couldn't stick around with her. However with no concrete proof to convince Kevin to leave he didn't know what else he could do. He just hoped his friend would be alright.

"But I'm not staying around any longer," he went on firmly. "So just let me go please," he pleaded to Kevin's distraught face.

Mitch walked over to them and Avi expected more snide remarks, but the boy ignored him completely this time, just taking Kirstie's arm and whispering in her ear. "Kirstie c'mon leave him, he ain't worth it."

Kirstie however wasn't about to admit defeat so easily. "We don't give up Mitch," she said, placing a hand tenderly on the teen's cheek. "You more than anyone knows that."

There was a moments silence while the two smallest members conversed silently, until Mitch's frame sagged and he went back to Scott, Kevin and the tree.

"Hug me," he instructed the blond in a small voice. Scott obeyed immediately.

With those three out of the way slightly Kirstie switched her focus back to the main runaway, placing a hand on his arm, and this time she had on a "no bullshit" expression. "Listen I can see that you like to try and act Mr Big and Tough but I can also tell you are a man of principle," she speculated, finding his eye line once more. "And I know that you can't walk away now, not when you're looking me in the eyes, without offering up some kind of explanation." She raised an eyebrow. "Am I right or am I right?"

Avi huffed a laugh out.  _Who are you and how do you know me so well?_  She was right. He wasn't a total asshole and couldn't deny her the truth when she was directly asking for it, no matter how much she may judge him for it.

He sighed before accounting what had caused him to bolt earlier. "That lady who did the bird thing," he began slowly.

"Eva?" Scott put in.

"Yeah whatever," Avi shuddered in memory of the woman looking at him. "She's..." "she's no good." He knew that was a pathetic explanation and Mitch confirmed it.

"Ooo spooky!" the young teen giggled, wiggling his fingers in front of him jokingly.

"I'm serious," Avi retorted in adamance, re-finding his words. "As soon as I saw her I just had this horrible sensation in my whole body that told me to run, that she was danger and I should get out as soon as possible." He could feel his body shaking and felt Kirstie's grip on his arm tighten. "Her eyes..." he shut his own to try and remember exactly what he had seen. It wasn't pleasant but he needed to focus right now. "When I looked into them" he continued, eyes still tight shut, "there was just this feeling inside me, almost primal, that urged me to run. It's like I could reach out and sense what kind of person she was, and all I could see was darkness."

He finished and opened up his eyes. Kirstie was staring directly ahead, her gaze somewhere around his neck, an unreadable expression on her face. Everyone was quiet.

"Sensual." Mitch eventually broke the silence in typical fashion.

Avi managed to ignore him for once, speaking directly to Kirstie. "I'm telling the truth," he insisted.

She nodded hesitantly and twisted her head to the blond. "What d'you think Scott?" she asked.

The silent boy jumped slightly at being called out. "I...I don't know," he stuttered, shifting awkwardly on his feet. "I haven't see anything...but that doesn't mean he's not right."

"I know what _I saw,_ " Avi said firmly.

"That does sound kind of bad." Finally Kevin was starting to realise his friend hadn't gone completely insane.

"No shit," Avi replied, glad he could have another go at talking Kevin out of staying. "Kevin, I know you think I'm being reckless here and I know that being reckless pretty much sums up my whole life, but I...I care about you and I want you to be safe. That place isn't safe."

Kevin regarded him seriously, and Avi could tell he was considering everything carefully, just like he always did. He waited anxiously for his friend's decision for he knew it would be his final one. "One woman, out of how many?" Kevin spoke up after a while. "What about the others? The ones who've been nothing but welcoming to us. What about the kids Avi?" He tried to appeal to the younger teen's softer side, the one that only Kevin knew he had. "You think all those kids have this evil darkness within them?"

"No," he replied instantly. Of course they didn't. All the kids he had met were just kids. Hyper little pests but just kids all the same.

"But you want to leave them with this woman around?" Kevin asked rhetorically.

"I–" Avi had run out of stamina, any arguments he made now seemed invalid.  _Talk about between a rock and a hard place._

"Hey dumb and dumber," Mitch broke the silence that followed once again. "Either make up your minds to fuck off or not, or I will do it for you."

"Let me try and make this decision easier for you Avi," Kirstie spoke up. "Because at the end of the day your choice really does hinder on one crucial factor."

Avi narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What's that then?"

"Do you trust us?"

 _Well I can't exactly answer that properly, can I?_  "My senses may have been heightened but I still don't think a day is enough time for me to judge the character of about eighty people," he said to her.

"Yes," Kirstie replied, rolling her eyes. "But I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about me," she explained. "Do you think you can trust me?"

 _Oh, that's different then._  Avi certainly felt a connection with this girl, one that he had never experienced before. _I guess you could call it trust?_  He definitely  _didn't_  not trust her anyway, but then again, he had only known her a day.

"Do you trust me Avi?" Kirstie repeated her question.

After a moments hesitation he slowly nodded. "Yeah."

She smiled, looking relieved, and spun him around to the other boys. "And what about Scotty?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said again. He suspected the tall boy didn't even have a bad thought in him.

The blond's face lit up at his answer. "Thank you," he said, thoroughly pleased.

Kirstie too was satisfied with his reply. "Good," she smiled at him.

"Hey! What about me?"

"Mitch. Quiet." Kirstie held a finger out towards the youngest and to Avi's great surprise the snake boy did as he was told.

Taking his hand in hers she told him earnestly: "And I trust that you were telling the truth about how you felt," she declared, honesty seeping out of every syllable.  _Trust. That's not an emotion many people have expressed towards me in the past._  But then he had never really done much to earn it from anyone apart from Kevin.

Kirstie carried on, still holding his hand gently: "And I'm asking you to come back with me so you can tell Lucian about it. He'll know what to do and I'm sure he'll be greatly appreciative," she assured the wary teen. "And I know you think the whole 'there's organisations after us' is a load of crap but believe me when I say my brief encounter with them is one I wouldn't wish on anyone. You're both safer with us and like it or not Avi you're one of us now, and we stick together. It's a bit of a messy fit and there's superglue running down the sides but it's still one object." She smiled. "We're one entity. One big freaky entity, and we'd like to know if one of us has gone rotten."

He was captivated. Throughout her whole speech he had been unable to look away. Even in the dim light of where they were stood it was as if Kirstie was painted in fluorescent colors. When she had smiled those rays of colors from every end of the spectrum had shimmered and gone running in all directions, painting the empty air around him.

Avi decided it was quite possible that he had been drugged earlier as well.

"So, Avi Kaplan," Kirstie dragged him back to his current reality, eyes wide as she popped the final question. "Will you come home with us?"

Interesting choice of words there. Home. What was home for him? Home had never been the numerous foster placements or his current shitty apartment.  _Home has always just been_...he glanced towards Kevin, who was awaiting his answer just as nervously as Kirstie, and realisation dawned on him. _Home has always just been Kevin_. Wherever Kevin was, that was his home, because Kevin had been the only family he could remember having.

And now there was this girl, Kirstie, who he hadn't even known a full twenty four hours, and yet at times it seemed like she was someone he had grown up with. Could she become part of what made home for him too?

There was only really one way to find out. And so he took a deep breath and gave a short nod. "Okay," he eventually agreed, and the tension that had been hanging around the group immediately began to disperse.

"Yay," Mitch unenthusiastically quipped but it was clear the youngest was satisfied with how things had panned out.

Kirstie was practically beside herself with happiness. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, pulling Avi in for a brief hug. "Let's get going then," she urged. "Us three will be in enough trouble for skipping after show work so we better not spend any more time out here. C'mon lovebirds," she instructed Scott and Mitch, who were still both wrapped tightly in each others arms.

Scott took the lead in navigating their groups way back, somehow always finding the best path even if he did occasionally stumble or knock his head on a low hanging branch a few times.

Avi walked up beside Kevin and put an arm across his shoulders. "Sorry for bailing on you earlier man." He couldn't believe he had been prepared to just march off and leave his friend stranded on his own in the dark.

"That's alright," Kevin gave him a friendly shove. "Sorry for not making you feel safe," he replied and Avi shook his head in fondness. There was nothing his friend could have done earlier that would have made him feel safe enough to stick around with that woman.

He felt better now though; knowing that he was being taken seriously and his fears were going to be addressed by the man in charge, the gaffer as Mitch liked to call him who was, as Avi had witnessed beforehand, a very powerful man.

He batted away Kevin's concerns. "You know that's always been my job. Brains and brawn, that's us."

"Yeah," the older boy chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that."

Avi allowed Kevin to stroll on ahead to ask Scott some burning questions he had about the trees. He was happy to keep his own company for a while, admiring the back of Kirstie's head from a distance and trying to work out how her wings seemed to have vanished completely from his sight.

He wasn't allowed much of a respite however as he was interrupted rudely by a little figure sidling up just behind him and hissing quietly in his right ear. "Hey Avi, wanna hear a fun fact?"

"What?" he tersely asked.

The snake boy giggled, his breath tickling against Avi's cheek. "I requested for you to room next to me earlier on. That way we can have secret late night gossip and hair-braiding sessions!" Mitch announced in glee, his cackles growing louder as he sensed Avi's body stiffening in blatant horror.

"And," he continued, voice lowering to the deepest Avi had ever heard it go, "it gives me prime position to make sure you don't do anything stupid again, kid," he emphasised the last word, doing his very best to belittle the older boy.

And before Avi had a chance to retaliate in any way, the small teen had snaked off again, catching up to the others, only sending one last mocking grin Avi's way.

Avi glared back. Now that boy... _that thing_  definitely didn't represent any idea of home. He was so caught up in his frustration that he failed to notice Kirstie had stopped to wait for him, and didn't realise she was beside him until he heard her melodic laughter.

"Oh cheer up!" she teased and gave him a wink that harked back to the show. "Maybe if you're good we can see about switching your room so you're next to me," she suggested with a smirk.

Surprisingly, the mere thought of that cheered him up massively, and he carried on with a bounce in his step.


	14. Warnings

Three days. Three days had passed and somehow he and Kevin were still kicking about in a circus of freaks. Still they were getting used to tent life, still the two boys were trying to come to terms with how their life had been flipped upside down and still Avi was using every bit of self control he possessed to not punch Mitch in the face.

As soon as they had arrived back on the night of their not-so-great escape, their three chasers had taken them both straight to Lucian's little man cave. The both of them, mainly Avi, had sat down and explained every last detail of what had gone on, from the moment Avi had begun experiencing feelings of dread during the show up until the point where the others caught up with them.

Lucian had been silent the whole time, his direct gaze the only indication that he was even listening to what Avi was telling him. Only after Avi had finished did the man finally acknowledge what he was hearing. Like Kirstie had predicted he had been grateful for what he'd been informed of, but instead of acting overly concerned in any way he'd asked Avi to keep quiet for now, telling him that he didn't want any unnecessary panic spreading around the circus.

 _"It's not fucking unnecessary!"_  Avi had wanted to shout at him, but surprisingly found he had no anger left in his reserves. Maybe this guy was right.  _I mean nothing actually happened. It was just my messed up senses acting out, senses that I've only had for a day._

At that moment the most logical course of action was to simply rest on it and wait for the next day, hopefully with a clearer outlook in mind. Like Kirstie had made aware to him, there were people he could trust to have his back and at the very least Lucian let them know that he would be keeping close tabs on Eva just in case.

 _"Try not to worry yourself over it young man,"_  he had said to Avi.  _"What you should be focusing on now is learning and strengthening your abilities."_

And so the next day that is exactly what they had done. And the day after that...and the day after as well. Avi had pushed any thoughts of Eva and her midnight black eyes and hair to the back of his mind and, along with Kevin, spent the whole day trying to learn what the hell was different about him. Their three chasers from the night before also joined them, some more helpful than others, and tried offering tips about exploring their abilities. None of them could assist too much though, for none of them knew quite what he and Kevin were experiencing.

Kirstie and Mitch had both been born with or developed their abilities, like normals kids might develop when they learned to walk or hit puberty, and Scott was an enigma who apparently just woke up one day with this purpose and particular set of skills.

This was not the case for the two newest arrivals. Their abilities were rare. Similar to Scott's, they were not genetic or engineered; they had come from mother nature herself, they were scientific, supernatural even. Or rather Kevin's were.

Avi was not doing as well. And that meant if you defined not as well by totally hopeless. What had been extremely heightened senses on his first day at the circus had diminished to slightly stronger than usual on the second and dulled even further by the third.

And today, the fourth day he had been here, he felt as if he had a cold or something. His head was heavy and his sense of smell was all but gone, his ability to detect voices across the mess hall vanished. At least he hadn't gone blind, his eyes just returning to the standard vision they'd had prior.

Kevin meanwhile had come on in leaps and bounds and while Avi was pleased for his friend, he wasn't quite as pleased with the attraction it was gaining him from a certain someone.

He didn't know if the snake boy was genuinely enamoured by Kevin or just sucking up to his friend to wind Avi up. He was going to go with a little bit of both, for as annoying as the small teen was, Kevin's abilities were proving to be the talk of the freak circus folk, and in the exact opposite to Avi's, they were always improving and strengthening every day.

"Ash!" Mitch cried out excitedly as the oldest boy showed them his newest trick in his ever increasing repertoire.

He, Kirstie and Mitch were all in awe as the oldest boy breathed out a cloud of ash, covering their faces to keep the grey specks from getting in their eyes.

_Now that's one hell of a smoke bomb._

This is what Kevin had been practicing all day after he had discovered at last night's meal while coughing that he could conjure up smoke. That had caused a bit of a commotion as some of the performers actually believed someone had been set on fire again. Having got smoke under his belt, Kevin had experimented with his lungs - or whatever was going on - and managed to produce these ash clouds after a few hours.

Kevin coughed some more, clearing his throat. "Kinda tickles your throat a bit," he croaked.

"That is truly one of the most incredible abilities I've come across," Mitch gushed, rushing up to pat the taller boy on the back.

"Oh um..." Kevin was embarrassed all of a sudden. "Coming from you that means a lot. You really mean it?" he checked hopefully and the snake boy laughed, reaching up high to put a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"Listen Kevin," he instructed. "Ask anyone here, I speak my own mind," he pointed to his temple, "like there is literally no filter in here."

_There's not much of anything in there._

"If I say what you can do is fucking awesome then it's fucking awesome!" Mitch continued to praise, giving Kevin a hug. Avi narrowed his eyes at him.

"Well you're the most awesome," Kevin complimented, putting on a pretend flirting voice.

Mitch played along straight away. "Where've you been all my life?" He gave the boy a sultry look, whispering: "You know if I'd met you before I met my big boy, who knows what might've happened?"

Avi was fed up now. "Hey, I have a really good idea," he called out as the two chuckled amongst themselves. "Why don't the two of you get into your time machine, go back in time, and fuck each other?"

Mitch grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Who needs a time machine?" he asked cockily. "Looks to me like someone's getting a little bit jealous. Am I right?" he jibed, putting on an even higher pitched voice than normal. "Is the kid jealous he's not as good as Kevin?"

Avi clenched his fists tightly but was stopped from retorting by gentle words being spoken into his ear. "Don't worry," Kirstie told him, trying to keep his spirits up. "You'll get there eventually," she promised.

He huffed. "Who says I'm worried?" he asked, as laid-back as possible.

"Boo!" His previous attitude was made irrelevant as Avi nearly leapt of his skin when Mitch pulled his old sneaking up behind him trick out of the bag. He glared ferociously at the boy while he giggled and clutched at his sides. "You're enhanced senses really have completely gone walkabout!" he cackled.

"Leave him alone Mitch."

"Aww Kirstie, look at you getting all protective over the new kid," the younger boy mocked, teasingly, poking her in the ribs. "What do you see in him that I don't?" he grinned cheekily as he dodged a slap aimed in his direction.

Avi just rolled his eyes. _Here we go again_. Over the past few days he had been able to build up some level of tolerance for the little snake boy and could keep most desires at wanting to knock him flat on his face at bay.  _I don't understand how she puts up with him though_ , he pondered, as Mitch danced around Kirstie like the natural born pest he was.

Distancing himself slightly from the bickering two, Avi took a few steps away and noticed a rather strange sight. Scott had not said a word for a few hours, instead choosing to sit on the dry grass, lost in his own mysterious world. Avi had not paid him much mind but now the blond's actions were catching his eye. He was hopping about, still on the floor, like some kind of nervous wild rabbit; every so often his head would bolt upright and Avi would see a pair of bulging lilac eyes, huge with worry. You could see the boy was skittish to say the least.

Avi slowly walked towards him, away from Kirstie and Mitch who were still throwing teasing taunts at each other, and watched in curiosity as Scott bounded around in a circle on the grass some more before heading off in a particular direction, still crouched down low.

_What are you up to?_

The blond turned again, alert to some unknown force all of a sudden, and he backed cautiously up against a tree stump, causing it to rock slightly and sending some specks of what Avi assumed were stray bits of ash from Kevin floating into the air. The boy's body frozen now, Avi continued to watch as Scott slowly turned his head towards the stump, eyes still just as wide. The older boy blinked in surprise as he jumped about a foot in the air; a giant wild rabbit that had now spotted a predator, and abruptly spun to look at the seemingly ordinary tree stump in horror. 

"Are you alright?" Avi asked uncertainly, creeping forward while the younger boy breathed heavily. "Scott?" There was no reply; the blond deaf to his queries as he nervously scuttled about in a full three sixty degree spin, still not standing up as he finally settled in one direction, head tilted to one side in inquisitiveness.

_Okay, now you're seriously freaking me out._

He knew the boy was weird by nature but he assumed this behaviour was not the norm and Avi decided now was a good time to attract the others attention as the blond crawled forward, almost doing a soldier like manoeuvre, to the outside corner of one of the tents, a few steps away from the tree stump. "Guys is he-?"

"Mitchy?" Scott called out instead, voice barely above a whisper but clear all the same. He had paused, and had his head stooped low to the ground examining something. "Oh Mitchy, this is where it comes from," he murmured as he scampered frantically back to the others - who were obviously now also aware of the blond's strange antics - almost colliding straight into Avi in his haste to get back.

Mitch crouched down also. "What baby?" he asked softly, running a comforting hand through the older boy's hair.

It didn't have much affect. "I know now," Scott spoke out, nervously hopping around on the grass some more, head facing towards the main area. "A terrible thing is coming," he fretted, voice wobbling. " _Look_ ," he told them, body also quivering as he stared at what appeared to be a perfectly fine field to Avi.

"What d'you mean?" Mitch asked, also squinting in the same direction

"The field," he glanced back as if to check they were all watching. " _The field,_  it's covered with blood."

_Uhh..._

The youngest frowned, not looking nearly as disturbed as Avi felt. "Blood?" he questioned, shaking his head once. "Don't be silly."

Avi actually thought Scott was acting the opposite of silly. The boy was absolutely terrified, his shakes almost looking like convulsions now. Kevin meanwhile had wandered over to the position the blond had bolted from and was now walking back with a small object in his hand.

"Blood, it's creeping forward," Scott continued to whisper. "Twisted limbs, black as night. They're reaching for us." He put both hands over his ears and hid his head in his knees. "There's nothing left," Avi heard him mumble. "Nothing left. It's all gone."

And then he was finally quiet, just a shaking, scared boy on the floor. Avi peered around at the others; no one seemed quite sure how to react. He also leaned over to check what it was Kevin had picked up. It was a small wood carving, a type of bird or mythical winged creature maybe? Whatever it was, it had been partially burnt, it's once light brown colouring now marred a charcoal black.

_That is what has him so scared?_

"Alright," Mitch eventually stepped forward and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Alright Scott. It's getting dark, I think we should be getting back to the home tents," he suggested as gently as possible.

"Back to the home tents?" Scott echoed in fright. "It'll come there, don't think it won't. It's all around us!"

"Now stop it Scott."

Avi raised his eyebrows. That was the first time he'd ever heard Mitch sound annoyed at the blond and he wasn't sure if it was justified.

If Scott was upset by it though, he didn't let it show. "We've got to go away from here, all of us," he pleaded, scampering back and forth in front of them, head darting in every direction.

"Go away?" Mitch exasperated. "Everyone?"

"Yes, before it's too late!"

"You're being silly," his boyfriend claimed, face set. "We're fine," he insisted.

"What is he on about?" Avi whispered to Kirstie.

"I have no idea," she replied, eyes like his glued onto the scene before them.

Mitch continued to lecture the blond. "No one's going to pack up and leave just like that."

_I might._

"You must listen to me, something very bad is going to happen!" Scott protested, suddenly grabbing onto Mitch's skinny wrist, kneeling in front of the youngest.

 _Hardly seems fair really_ , Avi thought to himself. When the others got scared or frightened the boy could always help, but it appeared he couldn't switch those abilities about to work on himself when he needed it most.

But then again sometimes you didn't need any special abilities to calm someone down. Sometimes you just needed one special person.

"Listen to me Scott," Mitch hushed placing his hands on the shaking shoulders. "I don't know what you just saw but it's not here right now, okay? At this very moment you're safe, aren't you?" He cupped the boy's cheek in his hand. "Look at me."

Scott did. He met the younger boy's eyes perfectly, as if his vision was no issue, and for the first time Avi had a glimmer of understanding about what drew the two younger boys so close together. Looking at them both before him, they were no longer Scott and Mitch, they were one being, and from Scott, Avi could see Mitch tense up as the boy's nervousness spilled into him, but he also saw the same thing happening the other way round, with Scott's body relaxing slightly as he drew from Mitch's calm and upbeat demeanour.

And then slowly, like he was afraid the blond might jerk away at any second, Mitch leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on the boy's lips. Avi had to look away as the length they stayed like that made him uncomfortable, but after the lingering moment he heard Mitch speak up.

"I'm taking him to Lucian," Mitch told the rest of them, standing up and lightly tugging at Scott's hand so he would follow. "After what you said and now him..."

He didn't finish the sentence but they could all guess what he was implying.  _Ha, only now are you starting to take me seriously._

"I'll join you," Kevin put in before hesitating. "I mean, if that's okay..." He was still at the stage where he didn't want to be stepping on anyone's toes but Mitch merely shrugged and beckoned for the oldest boy to walk with him. Kevin did so, passing the carving onto Kirstie as he went past.

The blond was obedient in walking after them, still being directed by the younger teen pulling on his arm. When they walked through the main field however, where most of the freaks were working, practicing or relaxing he halted, sending out a warning to everyone.

"We've got to all runaway from here!" He told them, ignoring Mitch as the boy yanked at him and tried to push him into moving. "As soon as possible!" he told them urgently.

"Runaway?" One of the performers asked.

"Yes! Before it's too late!" Scott continued, before he was eventually dragged away by Mitch with some extra help from Kevin.

"Is there something wrong?" Murmurings began echoing around the field, their resident seer having stirred everyone up. "What's he on about?" an older man questioned. "Is there danger?" a slightly younger man asked. Finding no answers amongst themselves, one young woman stood up and beckoned to the rest. "C'mon let's find out what's happening," she encouraged, leading a group of them off after the three boys.

_That was probably the last thing Mitch wanted._

Ironic really, considering out of the five the youngest had been the one constantly warning Avi to keep his mouth shut so as not to unnerve anyone, and now his boyfriend had gone and done the job anyway.

"That was different."

He turned to Kirstie, who had a wary expression on her face. "I'd assumed that was just what he was like."

"Well yeah but..." She shuddered slightly, "I've never seen him so scared before, I mean I've only been here for a year but I could tell by the way Mitch was acting that he was unnerved by his behaviour too."

Avi nodded seriously and pointed to the little wooden carving still in her hand. "So that thing must be something bad."

The girl shrugged and bit at her lip. "He's always been right before," she disclosed, running her finger across the little bird before holding it out to him. 

"You take a look," she suggested, passing it over. "Anything?"

Avi turned it over in his own hands for a few seconds, seeing if anything came to him, any strange sensations or warnings like that previous night; but no, there was nothing. "It's just a piece of burnt wood," he sighed, attempting to hand it back.

"That's not what I mean." She refused to take the carving from him, making strange gestures at the older teen. "Is there anything...else?"

"I don't know," Avi insisted, trying once again to engage his now dead senses. "There's nothing."

"C'mon Avi, you must be able to get something from it," she repeated.

"It's all gone Kirstie! I've been trying all day, and yesterday, and the day before," he complained. "Maybe whatever abilities I had have just worn off!" He winced, knowing those words came out harsher than he meant them to.

Kirstie was quiet, her eyebrows lowered a little bit in thought. "Maybe," she muttered before frowning even more and staring at him in defiance. "No."

"No?" Avi balked as two dainty hands were placed on either side of his face. "W-what are you doing?" he stuttered, as Kirstie lightly held onto his head.

The girl smiled softly at him. "Just concentrate, close your eyes, block everything else out," she hushed. "You need to relax, just...focus on my voice for now, it's just the two of us."

Despite his natural instincts telling him to pull away, Avi felt compelled to do as he was told, a rarity for him indeed. Shutting his eyes, he focused until the girl's sweet melodic tones were the only sound he could hear. It was almost like music to him.

"Now let my voice fade away also, travel to the deepest part of your mind, have no conscious thoughts..."

Entering a state of meditation he had never experienced before, something was reawakened inside of him. Kirstie's voice was still there, guiding him and keeping him grounded, but now there was also another being, another version of him; the primal entity that had already caused him so much trouble. But this time it was going to do as it was told.

Avi took a deep breath in, taking in the smells of the drying grass, the scents of various foods wafting from the mess hall and also...a foul odour wafting into his nose from very nearby. Avi took another deep breath and focused on that stench, the smell that was coming from the little innocent wooden carving in his hand.

 _Bad_ , came the simple reflex reaction from his subconscious.

And then something else...the smell triggering his mind into action, unlocking a very recent memory.

From deep inside his chest, Avi let out a low growl.  _Eva_.


	15. Prophecies

"What do you mean she's just disappeared?"

"What d'you mean what d'you mean?" Avi ignored Mitch's blatant attempts to rile him up. He was beginning to realise that sarcasm and wit were the boy's most confident forms of communication and that if you just paid no mind he would get bored eventually.

"Well did she know you were looking for her?" Avi clarified, referring to Eva who, when Lucius and a few others had gone to speak to her after the most recent revelations, had vanished along with some personal possessions, leaving no trace.

"Obviously she did," Mitch replied, chucking a log onto the growing fire they had going, with a little bit of assistance from Kevin which meant they hadn't had to bother with any fire starters. "You'd be surprised how quickly word travels kid."

"It's weird don't you think?" Kirstie spoke up, the flames casting dancing shadows onto her cheeks, her face bathed in the warm, flickering amber light, like she too was one with the blaze. "Surely if she was guilty of something she would try and pretend she wasn't, rather than running off and making herself look even more suspicious."

Mitch shrugged, leaning his head onto Scott's shoulder. "Good riddance I'll say. She was always off with me," he muttered.

"Off..." Avi gave a half laugh. "Yeah that's a good word to describe her." Everything about that woman had been off, the moment he had seen and smelled her it was a pure rotten aroma he'd been confronted with.

And that was why he was still worried; because that aroma had yet to vanish along with her physical presence, it was like a lingering bad odour after something had died. 

He caught Mitch giving him a long, unreadable look, the brown eyes piercing his skin and mouth tight as if he couldn't quite work out what he wanted to say. "You were right I guess," he said eventually. "All that stuff you said in the woods."

Avi couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Was snake boy really about to apologise for his earlier belittling of the older boy's concerns? It sure sounded like it. He sat there slightly smugly, waiting for the boy to continue but, whether is was because he'd noticed the change in Avi's expression or simply had already said his peace, no more words came.

"Is that it?" he asked, expression turning frustrated.

The boy, who's head was still leant against his boyfriend's shoulder, merely raised one eyebrow, smiling slightly. "What else were you expecting?" he retorted quietly, eyes glistening in taunt.

"It's my fault."

They were both distracted by the hushed whisperings the blond suddenly voiced and Avi flicked his gaze to the other younger boy, who was also staring into the fire, his lilac orbs glowing even brighter than usual.

"What was that Scott?" Kevin queried.

"I," he paused, a frown settling on his features, " _should not_  have seen it." He sounded angry. It seemed very unnatural, coming from him.

"Hey," Mitch said softly, giving the boy's arm a tap. "Don't start."

The blond shook his head, face just as upset as before. "I saw it...I- I'm going to make it happen," he stuttered.

Avi was confused.  _How's he gonna make it happen?_

"Just because you see it sweetie doesn't mean you have any hand in it. You know that," Kirstie told the boy gently.

"But what if me seeing it is what causes it to occur?" Scott continued to ramble, voice getting ever more panicky. "What if it's me–"

"If you carry on with that nonsense, you won't be getting a blowjob ever again."

Mitch's crass statement had multiple and varied affects. Kevin choked on his drink, spraying droplets of it into the fire, sending a few sparks sailing into the air; Avi's cheeks turned painfully red as he tried to avoid eye contact with everyone; Kirstie merely shook her head, like an overworked mother who has lost control over her children; but for Scott, it did make him quit with the self-blame, blame over outcomes Avi was pretty certain the blond had no control over.

"We've gotta look on the bright side guys," the youngest carried on casually, as if he hadn't just said something completely out of line with normal social etiquette. "With Eva out there's a space in the show," he enticed, gesturing towards Kevin and Avi.

Avi took a deep inhale of air.  _No_. He could taste the scent, the foul stench still hanging around them, invisible footprints only he could detect. 

"She's not," he shook his head, trying to think of how to explain it. "She's...no, she's still around. I can sense her."

That explanation was apparently not good enough for Mitch.

"Sense her with these senses that you supposedly lost," the boy pointed out in an accusing manner, his lips quirked into a disbelieving smirk.

"Well they came back didn't they," he responded through gritted teeth.  _Is it really so easy for him to disregard what he can't see with his own eyes?_

"How convenient," Mitch marvelled, only stopping himself from goading the older boy into an argument when Kirstie sent a warning glare his way. "Alright then," he went on, nodding towards Avi. "If your doggy nose thinks she's still nearby why don't you go and have a sniff around. We can take you for a nice walk."

Avi felt his jaw tightening. Mitch certainly didn't make it easy for Avi to ignore him, but there were more important matters to hand.

"No I mean it's life she's still  _here_ ," he insisted, waving his hand about, motioning to the surrounding area, the field where the other performers and travellers were mulling around. "Like she's still with us but not...like she's existing in a dimension we just can't see." He struggled some more to give them a good visual representation before finding the perfect description. "It's like she's passed through a rift of some sort to another plain...I know that sounds stupid," he admitted.

He hadn't noticed, but during his last sentence there was a particular word that had made two of the others sit bolt upright and exchange glances of wonder and nervousness. He didn't realise his words had had any profound affect until he picked up on the fact that Mitch and Scott were both staring at him with open mouths and Kirstie was giving him a strange sidelong look, the red firelight only enhancing the intensity of the gaze.

"What?" he asked, looking to each of them individually, Kevin doing the same, just as puzzled by the others reactions as he was.

Mitch clicked his tongue a few times to fill the silence. "Do you want to tell them or shall I?" he asked Kirstie.

The older girl briefly looked his way before returning her attention to Avi. He could see her composing herself, shifting along her seat slightly so she was closer to the two new boys. "Where do we come from?" she questioned softly, out of the blue.

Avi had no answer to that ambiguous and open ended query and left it to Kevin to try and provide an answer.

"The uh...the moon?" His friend replied, referring to the huge lunar monstrosity that had appeared in the sky before his and Avi's lives were changed, although he was clearly completely unsure with what he was saying and what he had been asked.

Kirstie shook her head. "Not  _how_  are we born, but  _where_  do we come from, what is our history?" she clarified, looking directly at Avi.

How was he supposed to answer that? "I don't know," he told her quietly.

The girl took another deep breath, gathering herself as she launched into a story like no other Avi had ever heard before. "There a many tales, many old stories of our beginning," she began in a hushed voice so only those sat around the fire could hear. "Most tales go along similar lines; that we have been around since the dawn of humankind and simply creeped out of the word-work over the years, forming groups like this." She paused, glancing around to make sure they were still alone. "But there is a different tale. A much more darker one."

Overheard the skies darkened, the setting of the sun encompassing the land in a bleak dimness, like someone had thrown a blanket across the skies.

"Thousands of years ago there was a rift formed on our world," Kirstie continued, using the perfect storyteller voice.  _Perhaps after a year of travelling with a circus you gain a certain passion for a good performance._ It was working though. Avi didn't think he'd ever been so enraptured in a story and he'd heard plenty of strange ones in the past few days.

"It was a portal that had opened - intentional or not we don't know - but it was to another completely different universe, a universe of freaks. Of people with scales, of people with the power to see into the future," she said while looking to Scott and Mitch. "Of people with wings, people who could manipulate the world around them," she carried on, motioning towards Kevin. "People who were just superior to the ones on Earth," she finished, eyes back to Avi.

He had no instant reply, struggling to take in all the crazy information he had been bombarded with. "So these people...came from their universe to ours, is that what you're saying?"

"They did. But the question you should be asking is why? Why would they come to earth when they had a whole universe to themselves," Kirstie urged him to think, tone lowering as the sun set even further, the shadows on her face even more prominent now. "What if I were to tell you they were running. Their universe, infected with a parasite or what you might prefer to call...demons."

At that Avi was almost certain they were pranking him, that Mitch had coerced them all into this elaborate little joke that they knew would work well on his already paranoid mind. But one look at the rare serious expression the youngest was wearing and the understanding one on his boyfriend's, he realised this was a story they had heard before and knew well.

He turned back to Kirstie as she went on. "They fled to our world, the few that could escape, but they could not let the rift stay open for long, for they could risk letting the demons get through also, with a whole new world to colonize."

A small frown graced her features as she thought about the ending of her tale, before speaking out loud: "And so they closed it. Closed the door on family, on friends, on people they loved. And they filtered themselves into our own society."

After the story was over Kevin of course was the first to pick scientific holes in it. "But that doesn't make sense," he challenged. "We're not descendants from these people. My mom," he gestured to his new appearance. "Did not look like this."

 _Well you don't know that for sure_ , Avi thought, seeing as Kevin had never met his mom, but he supposed there might have been stories passed around if Kevin's mom had looked half tree.

"We don't know what else was let through that rift, things unseen, a touch of magic or scientific element not known to us," Kirstie said. "But whatever it was, our world has never been the same since."

"So you'll understand, you talking about rifts and that bird carving my boy found, it's put us on edge a bit," Mitch added, although demeanour wise, he still seemed just as laid back as usual, as if he had not a care in the world.

"What's this got to do with that bird carving?" Avi asked them.

The snake boy chuckled. "If you thought that first bit was far fetched wait until you hear this."

There was another pause in conversation as Kirstie prepared her next part, maybe trying to recall word for word what she had been told herself. "There is a prophecy," she began slowly, eyes glancing upwards in thought. "Known by many but spoken by few," she explained, "that one day, driven by a hatred for our world and a yearn to take back what once was, the rift shall be re-opened."

Her brown eyes started into his green ones again as she recited the prophecy, seemingly looking straight into his soul but also not completely present at the same time. "When the day comes that the dark one returns, a bird turned to ash shall mark the return of monsters and the rise of evil. There comes a day when the sun turns dark, a woman clad in black shall mark the dawn of a new world, a one where demons roam free."

Avi felt his heart thumping in his chest as the story reached it's climax, completely focused on the lips of the girl in front of him and the words they spoke. "And it shall be then, when the blind man sees once more, a broken man shall bring an age of kinship. When the time comes that the last one is reborn, a sudden death shall bring forth the end of an era of sorrow and the downfall of an empire."

"A strange tale, is it not?" Mitch said with a smirk after she had finished. "People used to tell me stories of the ancient days when I was having trouble sleeping..." He hesitated, maybe slightly concerned he'd just revealed too much, and quickly added: "Most likely a load of bullshit."

"That wooden carving," Kevin chimed in, theories already forming in his head.

"It was bad," Scott confirmed. "And the ash. That was bad too," he affirmed with a shudder.

Beside him the youngest let out a huff. "You lot really want to dampen my spirits, don't you?" It was said in jest, but Avi could have sworn he was sending him a look of distaste.

"Maybe you should talk with Lucian as well," Kirstie decided, placing a dainty hand on his knee. "Please? For my sake of mind?" she pleaded. Avi could hardly deny that face.

"Okay," he agreed. "Yeah, I will."

Before any more could be said, Mitch was jumping up, pulling Scott with him. "Flag's up," he announced, pointing to the dining tent. "Talk to him after. At the moment the only demons here are in my stomach."

It was very dark as they made their way amongst the throngs of people to the location of food, the main source of light coming from the giant silver orb in the sky. Avi found himself gazing up at it as he walked, wondering what secrets it held. The moon tonight seemed extra large, a giant presence in the sky that was just as alive as they were down on Earth. For Avi, it was almost as if he could feel it reaching out to him; that his sense of hearing was increased so much he could hear its whispers.

"It's definitely a full moon," he remarked.

Mitch glanced back at him. "Pretty ain't it?"

"It feels different." The quiet murmurs from Scott stuck out in the midst of all the other chatter and Avi watched in curiosity as the blond also stared up at the silvery giant, having to be dragged along even more than usual by Mitch, his feet tripping over themselves as his focus was distracted.

Avi watched as Scott's face froze in concentration and then lit up in surprise.  _Oh!_  The boy's voice invading his head again was a shock, the blond suddenly concentrating on where he was going again but not before he turned around to Avi with a surprise smile on his face, and the older boy felt that now familiar feeling as Scott reached out to him, except maybe a bit more excited this time.

He only had one thing to tell him.

_I think I understand now!_


	16. Assaults

_Scott...Scott....Scott!_

Avi was internally pestering the tall boy all the way to the dining tent, determined not to let up until he got the answers he wanted. Who did Scott think he was? Hiding potentially life altering information from him, and not only that but having the audacity to get all excited and look at Avi with those eager eyes of his, only to then deny him from hearing anything his crazy ability had informed him of.

Yeah, Avi was pretty pissed off and had therefore been shouting the blond's name in his mind for the last couple of minutes, continuing to do so as they lined up for food; cow or frog or hippo or whatever insane bullshit the cooks decided to pass off as suitable animals for eating that evening.

_Scott...Scott...Scott!_

He was wearing him down, he could tell. The boy had been pointedly ignoring him but the small lines of stress on his forehead and the way he kept rubbing at his eyes was enough of a message to let Avi know he was beginning to aggravate him.

Sliding his tray down he scooped up what appeared to be meat...at least he was almost certain it was however it was either charcoal black in color or just extremely overdone. He gave it a sniff just to be safe. It smelled fresh enough even if it did look like something the croc man might excrete. Blanching at his own imagination Avi quickly settled back to his mission of getting what he wanted answers wise.

_Scott...Sco–_

"I can't tell you."

Stopping and spinning so quickly Mitch, who was currently in between the two of them, walked straight into Scott's back, letting out an " _umph_ " and glaring up at the older boy.

"Can't tell who what?" he asked, bouncing around on his tiptoes, the act of standing still for a matter of seconds apparently a humungous trial for him when food was so near. Not that he always waited. Sometimes Avi had seen the snake boy grab food with his hands straight from the hot plates and into his mouth, not even waiting to get to their table, like it was going to go anywhere. The amount of food Mitch could pack into him was also another wonder, with the boy often piling his plate sky-high with almost every available option, making Avi sick to his stomach while also drawing out wonder as to how on earth the other boy was not yet morbidly obese.

"He wants to know," Scott nodded over Mitch's head, meeting Avi's gaze in that unnervingly unnatural way of his. The lilac of his eyes was darker than usual, almost purple, or maybe it was just the light.

Mitch tipped his head all the way back and Avi averted his gaze as the boy's flexible neck allowed for him to pull off an owl-like manoeuvre, like some creepy doll in a horror movie. "Is that right kid?" he grinned manically, enjoying the fact that he was causing the older boy to squirm. "You wanting to expand your knowledge of this big ol' world?" He flipped himself around so he looked like a normal human being, only to then start belting out the song That's Life. "But I don't let it, let it get me down. 'Cause this fine old world it keeps spinnin' around!"

People around just smiled and shook their heads fondly, the random surges of showmanship from Mitch a regular occurring which some seemed to actually enjoy.

"He wants to know about the moon," Scott clarified, pulling his boyfriend along as he continued to sing and sway.

That delighted the teen to no extent. "Aww! Little Avi wants to know about the moon does he?" He teased the older boy who just let the comments bounce off him, now was not the time to be getting distracted by childish banter.

"Why can't you just tell me?" he stressed to Scott. "You say you understand and now you're hiding the truth."

To his surprise, the blond did grant him with a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry...I got excited, you see," he paused and chewed on the bottom of his lip nervously. "You  _can't_  know," he insisted. "It's not going to work out right if you don't find out for yourself."

Diplomatic he might have been trying to be, but knowing stuff about himself was being kept from him had never appealed to Avi. It was almost like he was back in one of the group foster homes, hearing the whisperings going around the other kids, tales about how he'd murdered his old family one night with an axe while they slept, or of how he'd apparently poisoned one of the boys in a previous home who picked a fight with him, or that he was supposedly possessed by the devil or any equally dumb shit.

Granted, a lot of those tales had been of Avi's own making, there'd been a time when he relished in the idea that he was feared, that he'd almost become a sort of figure head in the folk lore of foster kids. But this time the only whisperings to be heard were safely locked away in Scott's head, and the boy was not willing to share. He had never liked it when people refused to share with him.

_You're all against me, even you. Just enjoy seeing me look like an idiot, don't you? Keeping me in the dark._

There it was again. A foreign entity that was part of him but also not him at all, creeping back into his conscious. Scary and strangely comforting at the same time, like he had some form of invisible back up. Except his back up was very angry, Avi could feel it, even more so than it had been before, and so what happened next was inevitable.

White knuckled from clenching his fists too hard, and gritting his teeth in an effort to remain silent, his hunched form exuded an animosity that was like acid - burning, slicing, potent. His face was red with suppressed rage, and when Scott reached out a hand, obviously trying to diffuse the anger he had sensed, he jerked away and mentally snapped.

Covering the gap between him and Scott in one threatening step, pushing snake boy aside as he allowed the other part to take over him, he took hold of the tall boy's shoulders "I'm trying to find out for myself by asking you, you fucker," he growled.

"No."

For once Scott did not act like an agitated animal, instead taking a stand against the older teen. Avi hesitated for a second.  _Damn he's not half intimidating when he uses his size to his full advantage._  Perhaps if his brain had been fully engaged Avi would not have continued to argue, but he found it was becoming harder by the minute to maintain sole control over his actions. Someone else was here to play. Or  _something_.

"Alright you blind dumbass, I'm only gonna ask one more time–"

He never got a chance to finish his threat however, because all of a sudden he was being slammed into the food counter, skinny fingers digging painfully into his chest like daggers.

"You say one more word and I'll rip that tongue right out of your slobbering mouth."

Mitch was positively shaking with barely restrained anger, glaring up at Avi with a deadly expression. It did nothing to dispel his anger, only elevating it even higher. He'd had enough of Mitch pushing him around.

"Out of my way you fag!" He resorted to returning back to the old childish insults that used to get flung around the foster homes, taking a swing at the small teen; but as usual the swipe was easily dodged and Mitch returned to his original spot with an even more violent glint in his eyes.

"You'll be lucky if you live to regret that," he hissed, lunging forward like an attacking viper, catching Avi and everyone around him off guard with a returning, and much more accurate, punch of his own.

Mitch threw his entire body weight behind the fist, which granted wasn't that much but at the speeds he was capable of it hit Avi's jaw with such force blood pooled into his mouth. Pain erupted from the point of impact and he had to spit out the coppery liquid onto the floor, a red stain forming from where it seeped into the dried grass.

He barely had time to register what had happened before he was watching the younger boy pull his fist back for round two, limbs lighting quick, Avi wouldn't have had time to blink yet alone move out of the way. However someone else was already there for him, grabbing onto Mitch's skinny wrist and holding him in place, two bodies frozen in time.

"Mitch...c'mon this isn't you. You're stronger than this Mitch," Kirstie was whispering from behind the younger teen, while a crowd slowly gathered around the commotion. Having momentarily halted the boy's attack, she took the opportunity to move around and place herself as a barrier between the two, looking at the younger teen head on. "Think about what's in here," she said softly, putting her hand against Mitch's chest. "What's in here doesn't want you to hurt anyone."

Quivering with all the ferocious energy of a big cat crouching near it's prey, it took Mitch all the mental strength he possessed to drag his dark eyes away from Avi and ever so slowly lower his fist to his side.

Kirstie let out a visible sigh of relief, clearly believing the worst of it was over. And why would she think any different? Avi was the weak one here. The new guy.  _The idiot._

 _You can take him,_  the voice whispered to him.  _You're quick enough, strong enough. More now than you were before. More than you ever have been._

Time moved in slow motion as that voice spoke to him. Kirstie slowly pulling Mitch away, Kevin walking over to check on him, for him they all moved at a fraction of their normal speed.

_You can take him. You know what to do._

Avi thought about it.  _Yeah_ , he realised, _I do._

Snake boy's super flexible bones and agility might make him hard to hurt, but right now, Avi knew he was the supreme fighter. He could feel it, a sensation tingling underneath his skin, begging to be let out, pleading to be given free reign, just this once, just for a little bit. It was a feeling impossible to ignore...and so he gave in.

There were no holes barred when Avi went in for the attack, leaping forward and snatching the younger teen away from Kirstie. He was a wild animal. Powerful, quick, savage. He felt capable of anything and he allowed himself to fully cave in to the insatiable need to cause damage. He was a flurry of ferocious limbs, scratching, biting, kicking and head-butting. With his own two hands he grasped Mitch's head in his hands and brought his knee cap up to his nose. There was a blunt crack that sounded so loud up close that Avi was left stunned for a second, releasing the dark haired head. Crimson leaked from both Mitch's nostrils and his nose was twisted right, most definitely broken.

The other one was pleased, and Avi was too.  _Not so smug looking now, are you?_  The sense of euphoria he felt for beating the teen reminded him of the days when he was feared by nearly every kid in the system. It appeared the legend wasn't completely dead yet.

Out of the two now, Mitch was most certainly looking worse for wear, the younger boy not only having a broken nose, but also multiple cuts and bruises from Avi's nails and teeth. They could leave it there, Avi could leave with the knowledge that he'd bettered the little runt and they would both face equal punishment for breaking the rules and engaging in a fistfight.

Avi wanted to...except the other one didn't. The other one had only just started to have fun, it's full strength not even utilised yet. He drew his fist back again and ploughed it into the boy's stomach, with such an impossible speed it was like a train had hit the smaller boy head on, sending him flying to the floor. In a flash Avi was on top of him, savagely pounding his fists into his abdomen, blood vessels bursting under the beatings. Then there was a raging, howling scream that emitted from deep within his chest, one that appeared to paralyze Mitch's thinking, shutting down any attempts to escape the onslaught and sending him into the fetal position to protect his vital organs and ride out the storm.

He was faintly aware of a bright light encasing them, cold but strong. People were trying to get to him, to get him to stop, but they couldn't; whenever someone got close, they were thrown away by some invisible force that had conjured itself up around the two, or maybe Avi had conjured it up, he had no idea. There were shouts and screams but they sounded distant, like the shield had blocked Mitch and Avi off from reality.

The boy's dark brown eyes were huge saucers in his face, expressing an emotion Avi had never seen in Mitch before.

 _He's scared!_  He screamed internally.  _Can't you see he's scared? Just stop!_

But he, or  _it_ , he wasn't sure who was who anymore, simply responded to the fear with glee, punching Mitch in the jaw, multiple times, continuing to batter him until the teen's eyes rolled to the back of his head, his chest harshly rising and sinking with each and every shallow breath he drew in.

All the fight had left the younger boy, he wasn't even trying to protect himself anymore. There was no point in attacking him when he was literally immobile on the floor. Avi knew this, but still he couldn't stop.

"Avi!" Kirstie's screams pierced his ears. "Avi stop it!"

Her shouts were mixed up amongst dozens of others though, including Kevin. "Stop brother!" He didn't think he'd ever heard the older boy sound so terrified. None of them can get through to him however, the shield muffling them so he can't really take them in properly.

He wants to stop though, he really does. But he was no longer in control.

 _I don't know how to stop!_  He wanted to shout at them to help him but knew the only two people who could stop him were encased in the light.

Using all his willpower, Avi managed to halt himself for a few seconds, not strong enough to fully regain control of his actions but long enough for a voice to speak up. Avi knew it was Mitch but the voice was all wrong, like he was speaking while being choked.

"I th-think you're done...kid."

And only then did Avi stop, like the other entity has given itself permission to leave, knowing it had fulfilled it's purpose. In one shattered moment Avi's heart and breathing stopped, just stopped, as he took in the damage he had caused. The boy was a bloody mess, nose smashed and eyes almost shut with swelling. His arms were wrapped around his guts like he was holding them in and to be honest he was beaten so badly he could be. His right arm and leg were also facing the wrong angle, not in the way he sometimes liked to do on purpose as part of his little act, but due to forceful misplacement. Beaten to a pulp, he barely looked human anymore.

Avi stared in horror.  _Did I really do this?_

And then another voice broke through the madness inside his head, scared and innocent.

"You hurt him." The blond is standing right where the light barrier had been, that particular mysterious force seemingly vanished, and Scott can't see a thing but Avi knows he is seeing everything, perhaps more than anyone else, the sounds, the smells and maybe most importantly the emotions of those around him, which seemed to give him a greater view on the world than anyone else could comprehend.

 _I didn't mean to Scott,_  he tried to tell him.  _Honestly I didn't mean to._

A cough brought his attention back to Mitch, blood pooling at the corners of the younger boy's mouth. _I did this._

Time once again moved slowly, even as the urgent shouts started up again and the people rushed forward to attend to the wounded boy. Avi didn't move, instead he stared down, the violent red stained on his shaking hands horrifying him. The colour burned in his mind along with what he had just done. A sickness crawled within him as he tried desperately to wipe the stains off onto his shirt, but no matter what he did the stains stayed etched into his mind - an eternal reminder of the act he had committed.

He looked around at them all, the people who had acted so friendly towards him who now looked scared to even approach him. "I-I'm s-sorry," he stuttered, tears of pure anguish forming in his eyes for the first time in many years.  _Freak, freak, freak_. That was what he was. "I...I–" he risked a glance towards Kirstie who was regarding him with an unreadable expression. He wanted to beg her to help him, to get them to all stop staring at him, but he was never given the chance.

Turning at the sound of heavy, rushing footsteps, all he caught a glimpse of was a giant form charging towards him, before there was a sharp and intense pain in the back of his head and his world went black.


	17. Cookies

He came to in an unfamiliar room, an occurrence that had been happening all too regularly in the past few weeks. Except this time as his eyes adjusted he was not met with a standard room, he was met with gray concrete walls and when he tried move towards the iron door his legs caught on something. Looking down wide eyed, he was able to see the shimmering while material that was tying his feet together and to the back wall.

He tried to snap it, to tear it away; it didn't look very strong, but no matter how hard he clawed and pulled at it, it remained tightly secured around his ankles.

"Hello?" he called out into the darkness, for it was dark in that room, the only available light entering through a small barred gap in the top right corner. Unlike the other parts of the circus, if he was even still at the circus, the room was bare, with only a simple bed in one corner, the one he was currently sat on, trying to piece together his disjointed memories.

_I did something. The thing...it made me do something._

His ever sensitive ears alerted him to the soft thuds of approaching footsteps. "Hello?" he called out again. "Is anybody there?" No one replied but if he concentrated even harder he could just about make out the shallow breathing and then...the gentle beating of a heart. Somebody had definitely decided to pay him a visit. "I can hear you!" he shouted, the stranger agitating him as he clenched his fists.

But before he could get fully worked up, a subtle scent drifted its way over to him. He took a deep breath in, calming his nerves, and followed the trail of fresh flowers and cedar wood, and something that smelled like baked goods, to the small gap in the wall. "Kirstie?"

A face appearing at the grate, eyes blinking at him in the dark, confirmed his speculations. "Seems Harold didn't knock your senses out of you," she muttered, wriggling onto her front so she could view him from a better angle.

And at the sight of her everything suddenly came flooding back. Scott's vision about him, the boy hiding it from him, Mitch getting in his way, Mitch shouting at him, Mitch on the floor, Mitch covered in blood with his limbs twisted, all the others terrified faces.

_They haven't kicked me out...or killed me. Maybe the want to torture me, or punish me for hurting one of their own._

And why was Kirstie here? Was she here to enact her own revenge in Avi for hurting her friend or had she simply come to view him in his prison, like an animal in a cage.

"Where am I?" he asked the girl, voice quivering as he stared up at her small face inspecting him.

"A safe room," she replied simply, not breaking his gaze. She didn't appeared frightened, but then he was tied up. However she didn't exactly look disgusted with him either.

Darting around the small, stark room, he corrected her. "It's a prison."

"It's an isolation chamber," she corrected him in turn, leaning her chin on her hands. "It's designed to protect us from you, and you from yourself."

Frowning in confusion, Avi held his hand up to the stone walls and to his surprise found them soft and squishy to the touch, completely appearance deceiving. And he supposed that was why he wasn't bound by metal chains, if what Kirstie said was really true; that they intended to keep him safe from himself.

 _But why?_  He thought.  _What have I done to have them give a damn about me?_

"I was..." Avi started to talk about the incident that brought him into the room in the first place, but he found his tongue was heavy, the words the stuck in his throat. He wanted to ask about Mitch but at the same time he was scared of the answer he might be given. "How long've I been in here?" he settled for instead.

"Two days."

"Two days?" he repeated incredulously. "I was knocked out for two days?"

"No. You've been sedated for two days," Kirstie corrected him. "We wanted to keep you unconscious until the moon had grown smaller."

Avi frowned. "What the fuck has that got to do with anything?"

For the first time since she had appeared, a tiny smile graced the girl's lips, just about visible in the dim light. "Your abilities," she announced, "turns out they're lunar powered."

Avi's mouth hung open until he realized how stupid he must look and he closed it shut with a snap. "So what?" he asked in wonder, joking: "They get stronger the bigger the moon is?"

The girl merely tilted her head at his obvious jest. "Precisely," she replied.

Avi's jaw lowered to the floor once again, as he stared at her blank, maybe slightly amused face, and tried to organize his jumbled mess of thoughts.  _The moon? Really?_ The moon was what had caused him to be able to lash out in such a way? It was the moon that had changed his life forever?

Memories of the massive unexplained lunar orb burning in the sky, the one that had materialized along with the storm that nearly sent him and Kevin to their deaths on that cliff side. Somehow, with everything that had passed between then and now, Avi found it fairly easy to accept that it had played a part in his hectic couple of weeks. But even knowing that, there were still so many questions left unanswered. 

"How about when they disappeared for those few days, how does that have anything to do with the moon?" he asked.

The girl shrugged, the slight smirk on her face giving him hope that not all was doom and gloom. "I suspect that was more phycological than environmental."

"You think I did it on purpose?"

"I never said that," she said, the smile vanishing. "I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt Mitch on purpose," she shot back, giving him a pointed look.

Avi sighed shakily. He supposed he'd avoided the question for long enough and Kirstie was clearly expecting him to ask it.

"How is Mitch?" he eventually asked, voice dropping in both volume and pitch. "Is he...is..."

"He's alive if that's what you're asking," Kirstie saved him the trouble of finishing his stuttered sentence. "Fast healing is what comes with his snake boy abilities plus we have some of the best healers here, even your Kevin managed to help a bit." She gave him an unreadable look, eyes glinting in the moonlight. "You really did a number on him though, messed up his leg and arm for a while, but he's enjoying being carried around everywhere by Scotty and getting babied by everyone, even if he does like to complain."

 _Thank God._ Avi's relief was unmeasurable as he heard that Mitch was going to be okay. He knew he was already not a good man, he didn't need to add murder to his list of crimes.

The mention of the other boy also sent more memories flooding back to him. "And Scott?" he asked quietly, the image of the blond boy's petrified face and his whimpers of "you hurt him" burned into his brain.

Kristen smiled sadly. "Blames himself. But there's nothing new there."

"He blames himself?" Avi queried, looking up at her in confusion. "Why?"

"He believes the stuff he see's can be affected...that sometimes they occur just by him having the visions, that he makes the events unfold."

"But he didn't do anything, it was all me."

She shrugged, nodding down to him. "Well you can help convince him of that when you get out."

 _When I get out._  Avi still couldn't believe they were actually going to let him out. And with what consequences, he had to stay in a locked cell for a few days? That was hardly suitable punishment for his committed crime.

"I scared him so much," he whispered. "I could tell. He looked so terrified." When Mitch had said, or rather hissed, to him on his and Kevin's initial tour, about the whole band of circus travellers being ready to pounce if he so much as said a bad word against the boy, he had just thought the little snake was being stupidly over-protective to just annoy him; but now, after having spent over a week in Scott's company, he could understand completely.

The boy was just so innocent and there was something so pure about him. Kevin was good, one of the best men Avi knew, but even he'd been affected by the tough world they called home, been jaded somewhat. However Scott had always been in his own world, it was the only one he could remember and it was one nobody else could quite understand, and it had allowed him to give off an aura of complete wholesomeness.

Knowing he'd scared him, that maybe he'd made the younger boy fear him...it was a horrible feeling.

"Can you blame him?" Kirstie pointed out. "I wasn't exactly feeling my best after watching you beat Mitch to a pulp. That's my little brother Avi." For the first time her voice betrayed her true emotion, her words breaking up at the end in sorrow.

"I..." Avi took a deep breath, ready to face up to his actions. "Has he said anything about me? Is he gonna wanna kill me or run from me? I'd completely understand either." If Mitch did come for him, he wasn't going to fight back. He would accept what was handed to him.

Kirstie gave him another unreadable look, perhaps it was almost pitying. "He's not mad Avi, a little shaken up but you don't have to worry about him coming in here and suffocating you any time soon. And he's been around long enough to know that new abilities can cause volatile and uncharacteristic reactions, we all have. That's why you've been receiving the best care." She paused in thought for a second, before carrying on reflectively. "That bust up between the two of you, it was bound to happen at some point. I'm just glad you had your big fight now and didn't wait until your abilities were even stronger."

"The best care?" Avi questioned in shock, gesturing to the room and holding up his binds. "This is the best care?" He hadn't meant it to sound so selfish, seeing as he was grateful for what he'd been given but the place didn't exactly spring to mind "best care".

Kirstie read it as selfish anyway, and rolled her eyes. "Grow up Avi," she told him. "You're not the first of us to end up in here and you certainly won't be the last." She shifted on her front, reminding Avi that she was actually lying flat on the grass just to be able to talk to him. "As cheesy as it sounds, our gifts are our curse, and especially ones that can effect you so physically are never easy to control at the start," she carried on. "People knew to be careful around you until your abilities had fully developed, both you and Kevin," she commented. "But our Mitchy never likes to play safe," she said with a fond smile.

"I didn't exactly help with matters." Avi admitted, biting at his lip as he struggled with what to say. Nothing seemed appropriate or adequate. "Can...can you tell him I'm so incredibly sorry and that there was something...there was something else," he began before he even fully thought it through. "Not me, it's not an excuse I know it sounds like one but," he quickly added at her piecing gaze, "it's like I've got a split personality or something."

The girl studied him, the eyes that had captured his attention the moment he first met her inspecting his every detail. Finally she nodded softly. "You can apologize to him yourself when you get out," she said. "This other...thing you speak of," she tilted her head inquisitively. "What do you know of it?"

Eyebrows lowered, Avi queried. "Huh?"

"Well if it's inside of you, surely you should know a bit about it. Is it a boy? A girl? Does it have a gender?"

He shook his head, exasperated. "I don't know!" What sort of questions were these?

The girl was adamant however that there were answers. "You must," she insisted, hair falling in front of her face, framing in perfectly. "If it had that much control over you, then you ought to know."

Avi opened his mouth to retort something dumb, like he had always been prone to doing, but stopped himself just in time.  _It's time to start thinking before you act_ , he decided. Too many times had he fucked up because he just didn't think enough.

Kirstie allowed him his moments of quiet deliberation, sitting cross-legged on his temporary bed, head down in consideration. "It's a guy..." he eventually decided. "It's like it's me, but in a different form."

She smiled gently in encouragement. "What sort of form?"

"A bear?" Avi blurted out at once, merely because of the raw power he had felt at the time, however after another moments speculation, he shook his head. "A wolf," he said solemnly. The other was too stealthy, too quiet and too agile to be anything else.

Kirstie raised an eyebrow. "You're not just saying that because of the moon, are you?" she questioned and Avi chuckled lightly. While it was true he had watched many werewolf movies as a child, he didn't think he'd been that brainwashed into imagining he was one.

"No. That's what it is," he explained sincerely. "It's like I've got a caged wolf in me."

"Not always so caged," Kirstie added and although she hadn't meant it as an accusation it felt like one.

"How do I control it?" he asked, looking up at her wide eyed, begging to be helped. He didn't want to be like this. He never asked for any of it.

"I can't really help you on that front," she replied. "But I'll pass this on to Lucian to see if he knows of any others from other circuses with similar abilities. As far as I know, no one here has any wolf-like abilities, we've got a few dog folk but that's not quite the same I'm assuming."

Avi thought of the two slobbering pups. No, he was definitely not like them.

"Is there, I dunno, isn't there some sort of drug I could take to keep it asleep or something?"

"Maybe," Kirstie offered. "But is that what you really want?"

Avi folded his arms in defiance. "I can't let anybody else get hurt." Surely she could see that. He couldn't be trusted with that much power and savagery.

"Perhaps the question you should ask is not what you should do to stop it, but why did it happen in the first place?"

"It happened because I got a bit angry and...and the wolf took it to an extreme." It felt nicer to be able to share the blame and Avi was getting annoyed now. Who cared why it happened? It had, end of story. Now he just needed to make sure he could never get like that again.

Kirstie wasn't letting up. "If I was you I'd try and explain to the wolf why what it did was wrong. I'd let it know that wasn't what I wanted to happen." She raised a finger to the metal bars over the small gap, picking at the rust with a nail. "Most likely it's just as scared and confused as you are," she said quietly.

"I can't do that..." Avi stuttered. "I–"

"You said it's a part of you," she carried on, ignoring his shocked expression. "And I don't see anyone else in there. Might be a bit of company for you."

Avi felt the twinge of annoyance begin to tingle under his skin.  _Ha ha very funny_. He'd been appreciating her company, thinking that she was one of the few people who might not completely hate him after what he'd done. Now it felt like she had just come to gloat at him. Face hard, he glared at the girl above him. "Was there an actual reason for your visit?" he questioned coldly.

If she was taken aback by his abrupt rudeness she didn't show it, instead her own facial expression returned to unreadable once more, and she pushed herself back onto her knees, making moves to leave. However rather than getting to her feet and walking away without another word like she was fully in her right to do so, she bent over and picked up something that made a rustling sound, before leaning back down and slipping a small package through the gap in the bars, with it landing on Avi's mattress with a soft thud.

All of a sudden the scent of baked goods was a hell of a lot stronger as Avi stared at the small gift. Reaching out slowly, he unwrapped the paper to find two warm chocolate chip cookies wrapped inside. "They're the best," Kirstie's voice had him glancing back up at her, trying his upmost to convey his apology in his face. "Had to be quick to snatch a few." She did stand up then, beginning to walk away. "Who knows, maybe the wolf's a fan too," was the last Avi heard of her retreating form.

"Kirstie I–" he tried to call out, but he was drowned out with a flap of wings, and he knew she had left him.

Leaning pack against the padded wall, he drove his fist into his forehead a number of times out of disgust for himself.  _Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot_. Why was it that he always managed to find a way to drive people away? No matter how caring and kind and beautiful they were...

Raising the still warm cookies in front of him, he breathed in the scent, the nostalgic aroma settling him somewhat. He knew he couldn't make it up to Kirstie right now, but he could at least attempt to do what she'd asked.

Taking a bite of the warm dough and closing his eyes, he reached hesitantly into the dark subconscious of his mind.

_"Well...how are you feeling?"_


End file.
